The project ultimately fell into the hands of the Luo family. Xu Zifan glanced at Luo's father, his expression displeased. Seeing this, Luo's father smiled, stood up, and extended his hand to him, "Chairman Xu, I'm sorry."
Xu Zifan straightened his suit, stood up and said, "Chairman Luo, stealing trade secrets is a crime, and I will pursue this matter to the end."
Mr. Luo raised an eyebrow, naturally withdrawing his hand without feeling embarrassed. Instead, he smiled and said, "Chairman Xu, young people shouldn't be so hot-tempered. Harmony brings wealth. This is all thanks to my youngest son. I never thought that this good-for-nothing could compete with Chairman Xu. I can finally retire with peace of mind. I hope Chairman Xu will give my son more guidance in the future."
Xu Zifan didn't respond or even glance at them again, turning and walking out. Ji Yawen followed behind him, carrying her briefcase, her back straight, her expression normal, but inwardly she was struggling to suppress a laugh. After setting such a trap for so long, she had finally lured the jackal into it; she had to celebrate wildly. She really wanted to see the Luo family's expressions when the project ran into trouble—it would be hilarious!
Lin Siyan also came, but she wasn't allowed into the conference room and waited in the lounge area outside. Seeing Xu Zifan come out, she rose with impeccable poise, looking at him with a half-smile. After he entered, she smiled and said, "Mr. Xu, we meet again. Are you satisfied with the results this time?"
Xu Zifan stopped, and just when Lin Siyan thought she had successfully gotten his attention, Xu Zifan suddenly frowned, took a step back, and walked two meters away before continuing to walk away. As if she were a source of infectious disease, Lin Siyan's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot!
Ji Yawen, standing to the side, wanted to give her boss a thousand thumbs up. How could her boss be so cheeky! Last time she pretended not to know her, but this time she was completely disgusted and avoided her like the plague. Otherwise, Lin Siyan would be too irritating, and Ji Yawen wanted to calculate the psychological trauma Lin Siyan would suffer.
Ji Yawen quickly followed behind Xu Zifan, inwardly condemning herself a thousand times for having suspected that the boss liked Lin Siyan. How could someone like Lin Siyan be allowed to have her way with the boss? She should be sent to prison as soon as possible! She wondered when the boss planned to close the net, and what exactly was going on with the "Lin Siyan is in danger" thing. She really wanted to know the whole truth.
Lin Siyan was deeply resentful at being humiliated in public and angrily told the system: "Give him a 'moment of unconsciousness,' then spread rumors online that he has a terminal illness! I want to see if he'll be in pain if Xu's stock price fluctuates!"
[System: Host, these two items require 52,000 points. Are you sure you want to use them?]
Lin Siyan hesitated for a moment. She only had 518,000 points left. If she used them again this time, she would only have 466,000 points left. That was too few, and she didn't feel secure.
Hearing their conversation, Xu Zifan stopped. How could he miss the chance to waste points? He took out his phone, went online, and blocked the system's access to the internet, essentially cutting it off. At the same time, he told the four female bodyguards, "Remember what that woman looks like. If she's around in the future, notify me in advance so I can be kept away from her. Otherwise, I might get involved with some shady stuff."
There were more than twenty people around, all of whom were influential figures in the business world. Luo Jian, who had come out with his father, happened to overhear this and his expression turned very unpleasant. Lin Siyan said angrily, "Chairman Xu, please don't make things up without evidence. I reserve the right to pursue legal action."
Lin Siyan glared fiercely at Xu Zifan, mentally instructing the system, "[Make him unconscious! Hurry, he dared to humiliate me, I'll make him a laughingstock online, quick!]"
[System: Okay, host.]
Xu Zifan put his phone back in his pocket. Ji Yawen received a text message from him: Don't panic, handle everything well, you can do it.
Ji Yawen tensed up instantly, and just as she was about to apply pepper spray, she saw Xu Zifan close his eyes and fall unconscious without warning. Ji Yawen swallowed the scream that was about to come out, hugged Xu Zifan tightly, and calmly said to the four bodyguards, "The chairman hasn't slept for two days and two nights, he's too tired, take him home."
Four bodyguards helped Xu Zifan into the elevator. The five women surrounded Xu Zifan, and no one else could see what was wrong with him. When they heard Ji Yawen's words, they thought he was just tired and needed to be helped, so they didn't look closely.
Lin Siyan was stunned for a moment, but it was too late to speak. She quickly asked the system, "How is it? Have you taken the photos? Have you uploaded them online?"
[System: Host, there's been a glitch; I can't do anything on the network.]
[Lin Siyan: What? What happened? Why do you always mess things up? Are you even of any use?]
[System: Host, troubleshooting is currently underway. Please wait.]
A quarter of an hour later, Xu Zifan had regained consciousness and set his name and all related titles as banned words. Any comments the system made would be detected and instantly deleted. The system couldn't find anything wrong, so it had a strange guess.
[System: Host, could it be that you've attacked the Chosen One too many times, causing him too much damage, making everything we do unsuccessful? After all, he is the Chosen One of this world; your direct attacks might be repelled by the world's laws?]
[Lin Siyan: What did you say? How would I know if you're not even sure?]
Lin Siyan discovered for the first time that the system actually had many drawbacks and was not omnipotent. She had previously regarded the system as a cheat code, her strongest support, and her inseparable closest partner, but now she realized it wasn't. This was a complete upheaval in her understanding. If the system wasn't as powerful as she imagined, could she still complete the mission?
Luo Jian walked up to Lin Siyan with dissatisfaction, "You"
"What are you daydreaming about?" he whispered in her ear, "Are you still hung up on that Xu guy?"
Lin Siyan immediately smiled, "How could that be? I'm just angry that he humiliated me. We've been together for so long, don't you know that you're the only one in my heart? Otherwise, why would I help you like this?"
Luo Jian gave a soft hum and said nothing more. His favorability towards Lin Siyan had now risen to 90%. He had truly fallen in love with her. He would get jealous and unhappy, but he wouldn't really blame her. Naturally, he had become much more tolerant.
Lin Siyan followed behind Luo's father, silently asking the system, "What is Xu Zifan's favorability rating?"
[System: 0 points.]
[Lin Siyan: Isn't 0 points the lowest possible score?]
[System: Negative favorability scores are basically useless and therefore not a built-in function. If the host needs to check negative scores, this function can be purchased for 50,000 points.]
[Lin Siyan: So expensive?]
[System: If the favorability score reaches negative, it indicates a very harsh environment. In this case, the specific negative score is crucial for the player, therefore 50,000 points are required. Host, the point pricing is always the fairest; please do not question this further.]
50,000 points? Of course Lin Siyan wouldn't buy it. She had just wasted another 52,000 points, and the thought of it made her heart ache. She would never use points again!
Xu Zifan had been keeping track of her points, estimating she only had a little over 400,000 left, and was in a very good mood. Seeing him busy since waking up, Ji Yawen quietly waited until he finished before speaking, "Chairman, how are you feeling? Should we call a private doctor to come and check on you?"
Xu Zifan put away his phone and laughed, "No need, I'm perfectly fine. By the way, let's go to the research lab. It's been so long, there should be some progress by now. I'd like to talk to them about it."
"Yes, Chairman." She went to the research lab after falling unconscious? So the boss's unconsciousness was related to his mental abilities. Does Lin Siyan have superpowers? She's definitely a dangerous person.
Xu Zifan was always eager for research results and was generous with his funding. All the researchers worked hard towards the direction he set, but they were always just a little short. After spending time together, Dr. Chen realized that Xu Zifan wasn't a bad person and that his research wasn't malicious. He began to truly consider him his boss and increasingly felt like he was one of his own.
Xu Zifan gathered Dr. Chen and experts in magnetic fields and psychology together, describing to them the feeling of being influenced by mental energy. Their imaginings were naturally somewhat inaccurate, but Xu Zifan had genuinely experienced systematic mental energy several times. He carefully described his feelings of being affected by it, using the analogy of "what if I were attacked by mental energy?" He wasn't afraid they would tell others, since it was just a hypothetical scenario, at most a rather realistic fantasy.
These three individuals were carefully selected by Xu Zifan. They were solely interested in the research, with no ulterior motives. After listening attentively to Xu Zifan, they engaged in a heated discussion. Although their fields differed, they shared some common ground in mental abilities. Their individual arguments and conjectures, combined with Xu Zifan's descriptions, sparked numerous inspirations. Especially since the research lab had already achieved some initial results, this time they truly had a clearer direction and a clearer path forward.
The three of them couldn't wait to return to the research lab to adjust their direction and continue their research, while Xu Zifan took Ji Yawen back to his villa.
"Assistant Ji, Luo's has secured that project, but problems will likely arise in about two months after they've fully paid their investment. We need to use these two months to make thorough preparations so that we can acquire Luo's when things go wrong."
Ji Yawen couldn't hide her surprise this time, "Acquiring Luo's?"
Luo's Group is only slightly less powerful than Xu's Group; it's still a large conglomerate. She thought the boss just wanted to cripple Luo's Group and then make a quick profit. She never expected the boss to actually acquire Luo's Group? Is the boss really that ambitious?
"These are all loopholes in the Luo family's business. Take a look." Xu Zifan took out documents he had prepared for some time, documents he had been working on since he transmigrated. The Luo family started by copying various successful businesses, and in recent years they had copied Xu's products the most, often using underhanded methods. How could he allow the Luo family to continue to grow? He had originally intended to deal with the Luo family, and Lin Siyan's underhanded actions at the Luo family's home had conveniently helped him sabotage the Luo family. Of course, he couldn't miss such a good opportunity. He wondered if Lin Siyan would be furious if she found out about this.
Xu Zifan glanced at his watch and said, "Assistant Ji, it's almost dinner time. Getting the work sorted out might keep us busy until late. You can rest in the guest room tonight. Just tell the chef what you'd like for dinner, don't be shy."
"You're going to stay at the boss's house?" Ji Yawen replied with a smile, "Okay, Chairman."