The Way of Restraint

“Why do you always have to argue with me like this?” Li Xiaozhen was frustrated. Sometimes she hated Su Jie so much her teeth itched, but she could do nothing about it.

This café was indeed expensive, the kind of place only high-end clientele could afford. Yet Su Jie brought his own drink, as if he considered this café beneath his standards.

Li Xiaozhen felt as if her sense of lifestyle had been outshone.

“What? You don’t believe me?” Su Jie truly hadn’t meant it that way. He was simply drinking his usual water. He did this partly to maintain his physical condition and avoid ingesting impurities that might affect his cultivation, and partly because he treated himself as a test subject, experimenting with the benefits of this nutrient solution, periodically checking his data and feeding it back to Larry’s life sciences laboratory for further research. “This water is especially beneficial for women. According to test data, after a period of consumption, a woman’s cellular age decreases by about one year, meaning your biological age becomes younger.”

“Does it really have that many benefits?” Li Xiaozhen was skeptical.

“If you don’t believe me, give it back,” Su Jie said.

“Absolutely not.” Li Xiaozhen quickly tucked it away. Though she was well-off, a bottle of water costing tens of thousands of dollars was terrifyingly extravagant even for her.

What was even more terrifying was that this water couldn’t be bought with money.

Larry had poured over ten billion US dollars into establishing a life sciences laboratory, gathering many scientists to research various projects, all with the ultimate goal of achieving immortality.

Just like the emperors of antiquity, possessing boundless power and wealth, the only thing left to seek was eternal life.

For a billionaire like Larry, whose wealth couldn’t be spent in a hundred lifetimes, who had already achieved social status, he had gained what ordinary people could never obtain, and he was even more afraid of losing it.

Not to mention someone like Li Xiaozhen, who seemed like a wealthy executive, even Liu Shi didn’t have the resources to establish such a life sciences research facility.

“Take a small sip every three days, don’t overdo it,” Su Jie said. “This bottle should last you about three months, which counts as one course of treatment. After that, send me your medical report, I’ll use it for research.”

Even now, he never forgot his scientific experiments.

Li Xiaozhen was also one of his test subjects.

“You didn’t call me out today just for this, did you?” Li Xiaozhen put the water away. “I also know what you’ve been up to recently, our Haoyu has been gathering information on you, and I happened to see the intelligence department’s reports. You’ve really made waves, first becoming Larry’s personal bodyguard, and now Liu Shi’s bodyguard too. If I’m not mistaken, you’re definitely after Hedao Group’s acquisition of our Haoyu Film and Television.”

“Haoyu Film and Television is the most critical part of Haoyu Group’s strategic development. Why would you sell it now?” Su Jie asked. “Don’t tell me it’s a strategic shift.”

“It is a strategic shift,” Li Xiaozhen said. “The film and entertainment market is currently at its peak, any company can fetch a high price. And Haoyu Film and Television has indeed performed very well. But the overall industrial landscape, both domestically and globally, points toward high technology in the future. Haoyu’s top management has decided to transform at the height of its success, divesting entertainment assets to focus on high-tech R&D and free up capital.”

“That strategy makes sense, but your entertainment division is a cash cow, while R&D is extremely expensive and yields uncertain returns. Larry has already poured ten billion US dollars into life sciences and AI research without seeing any disruptive results,” Su Jie said. “Logically, a sound business plan should be about steady advancement, not going all-in on a gamble, that’s a cardinal sin in business strategy. Don’t think I don’t understand business.”

“I think so too,” Li Xiaozhen said. “But the higher-ups have their own ideas. I submitted my opinion against selling the film and entertainment assets, but Chairman Shoucheng overruled all objections and insisted on selling. I couldn’t oppose it. Is Hedao Group having the same concerns?”

“Do you know Wen Ting?” Su Jie asked.

“Wen Ting?” Li Xiaozhen said. “You mean the one leading this acquisition? Of course I know him. He worked in finance in S City for a while, and he bought a place right next to mine. I’m the specific point of contact on Haoyu’s side for this acquisition, I’ve been working with him. We’re quite familiar.”

“What kind of person do you think he is?” Su Jie asked, carefully observing her expression.

“We’re quite close, I’ve even been to his place. He lives a very clean private life, his home is full of books, very tidy, and he’s extremely disciplined. We were neighbors for two years, and we saw each other often. But I always felt he’s warm on the outside and cold on the inside, polite and gentlemanly with everyone, like polished jade, but it’s very hard to get into his heart,” Li Xiaozhen said. Suddenly, she asked, “Why are you asking about him? I know you’re working for Liu Shi now. Is Liu Shi not comfortable with him? I know Liu Shi has already accepted him as a son-in-law, he’s engaged to his daughter.”

“He closed the acquisition deal too quickly, of course it’s suspicious. And that’s what he reported to Liu Shi, that he’d found evidence of Feng Yuxuan and Feng Qiancang engaging in misconduct with actresses and various illegal activities, forcing them to agree to the acquisition to avoid imprisonment,” Su Jie said.

“He said that?” Li Xiaozhen’s expression changed.

“Why would I lie to you?” Su Jie waved his hand. “Of course, I believe what he said is largely true, Feng Yuxuan and Feng Qiancang have indeed been problematic all these years.”

“You said that last time too.” Li Xiaozhen still didn’t believe him. “I went back and investigated many company secrets, I found no evidence of their illegal activities. They’re a bit promiscuous, sure, but that’s just the entertainment industry, mutual consent between both parties. It’s morally questionable at best, but legally there’s no issue at all.”

“Of course you couldn’t find anything. Mingxia and Hedao have both been investigating, and they couldn’t find anything either, let alone you. Yet Wen Ting found it. Don’t you find that suspicious?” Su Jie said. “I know you’re working for Haoyu, but with this suspicious acquisition, don’t you think you should get to the bottom of it?”

“Now that you mention it, this really does warrant a thorough investigation.” Li Xiaozhen thought for a moment, her expression shifting, it was unclear what she was thinking.

After a long pause, she nodded. “But this is still just your side of the story. Unless you can get the evidence from Wen Ting and show me, I won’t believe it, and I won’t fully cooperate with you.”

“Including helping me bring those two brothers to justice?” Su Jie asked.

“Of course. If they’ve truly done things that outrage heaven and man, I’ll cut ties immediately. That’s for fairness and justice, and for my own sake. Otherwise, if their crimes come to light later, I could be implicated. After all, I am Feng Yuxuan’s assistant,” Li Xiaozhen said without hesitation.

“Good. It seems you see things clearly and understand the stakes,” Su Jie nodded. “Indeed, if they get caught, they’ll drag you down, or even pin everything on you. You need to be careful.”

Su Jie and Li Xiaozhen discussed the acquisition, and though he didn’t get much more information about Wen Ting from her, through her he managed to delay the acquisition somewhat.

This would slow down Wen Ting’s plan and make him reveal more weaknesses.

After making their mutual agreement, Su Jie left the café and headed straight for Hedao Group’s headquarters to meet Wen Ting face-to-face, hoping to expose his flaws.

Hedao Group was enormous, building after building connected in a sprawling complex. Normally, outsiders couldn’t wander through it freely, but Su Jie was now Liu Shi’s personal bodyguard, responsible for his security, a position of high status that granted him unrestricted access.

In the meeting, Liu Shi had already told all executives to cooperate with his security work.

As Su Jie walked through the complex, many security guards saluted him. He felt both amused and exasperated.

“I guess I’m following in my father’s footsteps? He was a security guard, and now I’m basically a security guard too. Is this some kind of fate?” This was why he found it amusing.

Though he was now a high-level personal bodyguard, calling him a security guard wasn’t entirely wrong.

Wen Ting’s office was in the Investment and M&A Department, a plum position. Over the years, Hedao Group had conducted countless acquisitions, breeding much corruption. Many executives had been sent to prison for duty-related crimes.

Su Jie stepped into Wen Ting’s office.

Wen Ting was in a meeting with his subordinates, discussing acquisition strategies. Seeing Su Jie enter, he nodded expressionlessly: “Mr. Su Jie, I’m in a meeting right now. If you have business here, I’d appreciate it if you could wait a moment.”

“I also have very important business,” Su Jie said. “Please pause your meeting.”

Su Jie’s tone was firm.

He didn’t care much, he felt no need to be polite just because Wen Ting was Liu Shi’s prospective son-in-law. At the same time, he was trying to provoke Wen Ting, hoping to expose his weaknesses.

“You’re in charge of the chairman’s security, that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the Investment and M&A Department,” one of Wen Ting’s subordinates spoke up.

The subordinate was a female professional, seemingly capable and experienced in the workplace. But Su Jie noticed the deep admiration and devotion in her eyes when she looked at Wen Ting. He could tell she had been completely won over by Wen Ting, she was one of his inner circle.

The Investment and M&A Department had many employees, and they all seemed utterly devoted to Wen Ting. Though their positions weren’t very high, they formed the middle management layer.

If all the middle management had been won over by Wen Ting, it showed just how capable he was.

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