Xie Cheng finished speaking and couldn't help but glance again at the pitiful spirit platform scene in front of him. As sunset gave way to nightfall, in the dim lighting, the white candles burning at the scene, the solemn and quiet yellow and white chrysanthemums all around, it made people instinctively want to offer incense.
The only comforting thing was that Lan Xi didn't have money, so at least she hadn't bought those two paper horses for herself. Otherwise, Xie Cheng couldn't guarantee that he could still maintain his current etiquette and moral standards.
Thinking of this, Xie Cheng's gaze involuntarily turned to Lan Xi. She was clearly the one who caused this whole thing, but the perpetrator herself was completely confused and innocent, as if she knew nothing about the customs and taboos of the Qingming Festival.
Her bright, round eyes stared at Xie Cheng: "If Qingming doesn't work, then when does? Should we wait until another festival? I can also wait."
"It won't work anytime."
"I won't marry you," Xie Cheng took a deep breath. "Lan Xi, we are not in a relationship where we can get married. If I have misled you in any way, I apologize, but I don't have those kinds of feelings for you."
"Today, I already accompanied you to the amusement park as agreed. I will take you home and arrange for someone to come and clear up this venue. After that, our relationship doesn't need to progress any further. Staying as we are now is perfectly fine."
Xie Cheng's words were very direct, and he knew they would hurt Lan Xi. Although Lan Xi was naive and not very socially and interpersonally adept, the enthusiasm she harbored for immediately getting married was clearly genuine.
On the ride home, Lan Xi did seem somewhat depressed and pitiful, as if she had suffered a major setback. But unrealistic hopes can sometimes torment people more than a quick, decisive despair. Xie Cheng resisted the urge to comfort her.
Although everything was now out in the open, if Lan Xi needed help getting used to her new teacher or had any other difficulties in her life or at work in the future and came to Xie Cheng for help, he would definitely not shirk his responsibilities.
Thinking of Lan Xi's pitiful background, distressing experiences being taken advantage of, the physical and psychological trauma she endured, as well as her reclusive disorder and social barriers, Xie Cheng didn't think his concern for her was strange at all. She belonged to a vulnerable group in society. His caring for her when he was in a position to do so was a perfect embodiment of high moral standards.
**
However, the "vulnerable group" in Xie Cheng's eyes didn't think of herself as vulnerable at all. On the contrary, in Lan Xi's mind, it was Xie Cheng who was weaker, since Mu Yin star people were strong and good at fighting, while people from Earth would get their arms and legs broken at the slightest provocation.
Nevertheless, Lan Xi had to admit Xie Cheng wasn't wrong in his observations. She really had sunk into tremendous frustration.
After all, as a princess, she had gone to the trouble of humbling herself to propose to a fragile Earthling man, but she was rejected! The guidebook didn't say it would turn out like this! She had followed all the steps in the guidebook perfectly! What happened to the promised 100% success rate?!
And when faced with a failed proposal, the guidebook didn't describe any coping measures at all!
Fortunately, there was still Liang Di.
Feeling dejected, Lan Xi called her—
"I did everything according to what you said. I went out with him today, paid for everything myself, and even carefully prepared a proposal, but he told me our relationship stops here and he would never marry me..."
Unfortunately, Liang Di didn't give Lan Xi any more suggestions this time. She sounded aggrieved:
"Lan Xi, you're so beautiful, there's no need to hang yourself on a crooked tree like Xie Cheng. Let's find another man to replace that irresponsible scumbag Xie Cheng!"
Liang Di was indeed very angry. She felt that however much admiration and respect she used to have for Xie Cheng deep down, now she hated him just as much. How could a person have such a golden exterior but a rotten interior? The innocent and beautiful Lan Xi was completely taken in and had her feelings deceived by Xie Cheng.
In Liang Di's opinion, the best way to defeat an unhealthy relationship was to embark on a brand new romance.
She felt that the only reliable way to finally pull Lan Xi, who had invested her whole heart in Xie Cheng, out of the mire was not to persuade her with reason or analyze the pros and cons, but to introduce her to someone even better than Xie Cheng.
Fortunately, Liang Di had extensive social connections. She decided to carefully look around and assess potential candidates in her social circles, and then facilitate a beautiful love story to allow the innocent beauty Lan Xi to find someone to rely on!
**
The conquest plan was just one step away from the ultimate marriage, but it got stuck on that very last step. As everyone knows, conquest is a complete process, and if any one step fails, then the entire conquest plan is tantamount to failure.
Lan Xi pulled an all-nighter trying to figure out how to turn defeat into victory and shift from passive to active, but to no avail.
The next day, she sat dejectedly in the office with dark eye circles. The only comforting thing was that, as per his annual routine, Xie Cheng had gone to the hospital for a regular health checkup, so he wasn't at the company. This avoided a lot of awkwardness and gave Lan Xi breathing room to continue working on how to get through to him.
However, Lan Xi's plans were soon interrupted—Xie Jing, Xie Cheng's uncle, contacted her saying he wanted to meet her.
**
To better facilitate Lan Xi's infiltration without Xie Cheng finding out, Xie Jing had not met with her for a long time, only exchanging information via email on a regular basis.
To be frank, in carrying out Xie Jing's dirty work while pretending to be loyal to Xie Cheng, Lan Xi was efficient and performed her duties flawlessly. For example, just yesterday she had emailed to report that Xie Cheng took her to an amusement park, and before that there was also the "private tutoring" Xie Cheng gave her alone at his home.
"A true hunter often disguises himself in the posture of prey—how very true that saying is."
As he scanned the email, Xie Jing couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
In such a short time, his workaholic nephew had put his work aside to take her out to play at amusement parks! What kind of astonishing ability was this?! So beautiful and so skilled at handling men that even the emperor neglected the morning court. She was Su Daji incarnate! With a fierce general like her on his side, did he need to worry about Xie Cheng any longer? The chess piece he placed—she had infiltrated deep into enemy ranks! By the looks of it, Xie Cheng was completely spellbound by this little vixen.
What was rarest of all was that this Lan Xi not only knew how to resort to feminine wiles, but was also shrewd and astute.
"Private tutoring at home, eh? Such an ambiguous way of phrasing it! It amounts to nothing less than my randy nephew unable to restrain his lust and taking her home to sleep with her!"
Xie Jing narrowed his eyes slightly and comfortably sipped his tea.
He was very satisfied with Lan Xi's work. His urgent summons today were mainly to assign her even more important tasks.
Before long, Lan Xi arrived, still beautiful, but looking somewhat haggard—inevitable considering the frequent "tutoring" day and night.
As a seasoned PUA professional, the first thing Xie Jing did was sing Lan Xi's praises, complimenting her, discussing her health with concern, going through the motions of taking out his precious wild mountain ginseng to give her. After beating around the bush this way, he finally got to the crux of the matter—
"Xie Cheng's new meteorological database software is undergoing final trial runs before going online, right?"
Xie Jing's eyes shifted around sneakily. Although Xie Cheng kept this software tightly under wraps, he nevertheless got wind of this software's development timeline and future commercial value from other partners and industry insiders. It represented endless cooperative opportunities, market share, and tremendous business potential.
After Xie Jing took over Xie Cheng's parents' company Cheng'an, he carried out a major reshuffling of personnel, planting "his own people" in core finance and operations positions, nearly a complete takeover. However, Xie Jing didn't understand the industry and lacked management experience. The "own people" he installed took advantage of him right under his nose.
Xie Jing wasn't completely oblivious to this fact, but for the most part he turned a blind eye to it. He never imagined that an unprofessional boss coupled with a team that was also unprofessional while lining their own pockets would ultimately result in Cheng'an's year-on-year decline as reflected in the financial statements.
Although the finance department cooked the books to make the outward-facing data still seem prosperous, Xie Jing knew that if he didn't swiftly turn losses into gains, this bubble of fake prosperity would soon burst.
But if he could get ahead of Xie Cheng and be the first to release this meteorological database software using Cheng'an, then he could seize the initiative and appropriate this software and the huge commercial opportunities it represented.
All of this just required getting a prototype of the meteorological software first, then plagiarizing and launching a similar version ahead of time.
Xie Jing had been waiting patiently for a long time, and now was finally the time to cast the net.
A few days ago, he had already given the addictive drug powder that Lan Xi had previously collected from Xie Cheng to an authoritative testing center, just waiting for the analysis report to identify what kind of drug it was.
At that time, after stealing the meteorological data software, even if faced with Xie Cheng's accusation, Xie Jing was confident he could throw out Xie Cheng's Achilles heel of being addicted to drugs, catching Xie Cheng off guard and leaving him powerless to investigate his own responsibility.
Back and forth, the meteorological data software and the vast market in the future would be effortlessly swallowed by Xie Jing.
Thinking of this, Xie Jing looked at Lan Xi: "Now there is a very important task that must be completed by you. After it is done, I can give you a portion of Cheng'an's shares."
Sure enough, as soon as he said this, Lan Xi's eyes lit up: "Is that a lot of money?"
"Of course." Xie Jing felt everything was under control. "There will be a lot of money. You won't have to work anymore in the future."
"What do I need to do?!"
Xie Jing looked into Lan Xi's eyes and lowered his voice: "Help me steal Xie Cheng's meteorological software system..."
Lan Xi frowned: "Is this weather software very valuable?"
"Of course it's valuable! It represents a commercial market behind it that's worth hundreds of millions! So you go and steal it for me, and I won't shortchange you on the benefits later."
Xie Jing's words were always tactful, trying not to give anyone a handle, but Lan Xi's performance over this period had already gained his trust. Therefore, this time, in front of her, he no longer beat around the bush with vague implications, but directly stated his requirements.
As a result, Xie Jing hadn't finished speaking when Lan Xi, who had looked very capable just now, suddenly righteously shouted-
"Mr. Xie! Are you confused?! How can you ruin your future like this!"
For a moment, Xie Jing was stunned by Lan Xi's momentum and didn't know what to say.
Lan Xi looked pained: "Steal?! How can people steal things?! Stealing is against the law!"
"..."
Lan Xi stared at Xie Jing with righteous indignation, then continued: "Mr. Xie, people need to have a bottom line. How can you steal? From a moral point of view, stealing other people's things to satisfy yourself instead of through your own honest labor not only has no value added to society as a whole, but is a behavior that should be despised for violating the spirit of labor. From a legal point of view, according to the Criminal Law, those who steal public or private property, if the amount is huge or if there are other serious circumstances, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years and shall also be fined or have their property confiscated!"
"The weather software you want me to steal is so valuable, isn't that almost ten years in prison with confiscated property?!"
Lan Xi's eyes were filled with disbelief: "Mr. Xie, do you need to go to the hospital to check your brain?"
Lan Xi was using this skillfully. Whenever she did something rather shocking, Xie Cheng would say this to her. Using it in this situation was obviously appropriate. It would also make her seem like a very authentic earthling, with no clues about her being out of the ordinary.
As the princess, she was just that witty and versatile!
Lan Xi believed that with what she just said, no one would have any more doubts about her identity! Her earthly undercover work was done perfectly!
Sure enough, after she said this, Xie Jing looked extremely shocked. He stared at Lan Xi, as if he was speechless for a long time.
It was understandable. After all, Lan Xi had just saved him from the edge of crime. Not every earthling could recite the Criminal Law like Lan Xi. It was normal for Xie Jing to be so surprised.
**
Xie Jing was indeed shocked by Lan Xi's words, but the reason was very different from what Lan Xi thought.
It wasn't until Lan Xi left that Xie Jing finally lost control and swept everything off the table onto the floor in anger.
She was rebelling against him!
Was she getting too big for her boots and refusing to work?!
Was stalking Xie Cheng every day, and deliberately leading Xie Cheng into dangerous situations with femme fatale tactics to get him addicted to her charm earlier something legal and moral?! When she reported Xie Cheng's whereabouts every day, was that above board?!
When they first started working together, didn't he imply everything clearly, and as a smart person she understood completely too? Weren't they cooperating tacitly by the rules and keeping an unspoken understanding?!
But now at the critical moment, how could she pull this?!
What a pretense!
Self-righteously telling him not to steal, and even arrogantly provoking him to get his brain checked!
After the anger, Xie Jing tried his best to calm himself down. The more critical the situation, the more he couldn't lose control. Lan Xi, who was originally in the same camp as him, had suddenly rebelled. There must have been some recent changes that he was unaware of, which led to Lan Xi being turned, and her allegiance had undergone an earth-shattering change.
Xie Jing thought for a while, then called Wan Yan in on the intercom.
Wan Yan was Xie Cheng's childhood sweetheart. When Xie Cheng's parents were still around, she would often go to Xie Cheng's house to chat, so Xie Jing also knew her. Earlier, Wan Yan even called him Uncle Xie Jing, and after Xie Jing took over Cheng'an, Wan Yan's parents wanted to pave the way for their daughter's future career, so they also networked with Xie Jing during holidays and festivals. So Xie Jing calling her over was reasonable.
Wan Yan had been protected very well by her family since she was young, so although she was crafty, she didn't have great experience. Sure enough, after Xie Jing chatted with her about daily life for a while and then gradually brought up the issues he wanted to find out, Wan Yan took the bait.
"Uncle Xie, that Lan Xi, I see she has no intention of working hard at all! She sticks to Cousin Xie Cheng every day. She didn't come to Cheng Xin to work at all! She just came to hook herself a rich husband!"
She was obviously very dissatisfied with Lan Xi. As soon as Lan Xi's name was mentioned, she started complaining like spilled beans, without Xie Jing's guidance.
"Every day she just thinks about how to use tricks to seduce Cousin Xie Cheng. Unfortunately, Cousin Xie Cheng is too naive to know women like her are so crafty. She even went to high-end clubs on a matchmaking blind date. Her social relationships are messy, and her circle of friends seems dirty too. I reminded Cousin Xie Cheng several times, but he didn't indicate anything. He's just too kind!"
Wan Yan got more and more aggrieved: "Also, Lan Xi and I are colleagues at the same level, but Lan Xi has already acted like the boss's wife, arrogantly ordering me around. The other day, she even condescendingly said to me that she appreciated my dedication to the company, and that after she marries Xie Cheng in the future, she would remember my kindness and give me a promotion and a raise..."
"Uncle Xie, what kind of person is this? Shameless..."
Wan Yan was still immersed in her own emotions, but Xie Jing couldn't help laughing.
He knew where the crux of the matter was!
Sure enough!
Turns out Xie Cheng promised that as long as she defected to his side, he would marry her as boss's wife after succeeding!
No wonder Lan Xi immediately sided with Xie Cheng! She didn't even hide it from outsiders, eagerly wanting to formally enter the household as the boss's wife!
Right? After the Cheng Xin meteorological software goes online, there will be huge business opportunities and markets, which means endless money. Compared to getting a small share of money or equity from him for stealing software for him, it would be better to join forces with Xie Cheng. By eventually marrying him, they could form a solid union of interests, owning mountains of gold and silver, not to mention going from a contract worker to the boss's wife!
Also, Lan Xi was a poor village girl who crawled to her current position. With so many certificates and a cunning understanding of playing pig to eat tiger, she was clearly a ruthless figure.
When Xie Jing thought it through, he felt extremely regretful. No matter how much he had planned, he didn't expect that Xie Cheng would stake his own marriage as a bargaining chip to win over Lan Xi! Moreover, Lan Xi was indeed beautiful, so Xie Cheng might even be enjoying himself and not feel like he had made any sacrifice at all. It was a win-win situation where he had poached one of Xie Jing's top generals and also obtained a beautiful and excellent wife!
Now faced with the huge benefit of directly becoming the boss's wife, Lan Xi naturally switched allegiances. Especially with the meteorological software about to launch, Lan Xi was in high spirits and already referring to herself everywhere as the boss's wife. As a result, she finally revealed her true colors and no longer even showed Xie Jing basic respect.
She even asked him if he needed to go get his head examined.
Although Xie Jing tried his best to calm himself down, whenever he thought about this, he still felt breathless from anger and chest tightness.
It was true that a capable and resourceful woman like Lan Xi, who also had beauty as a weapon, how could she be willing to play second fiddle to anyone? He didn't expect that he had taken this crucial chess piece and voluntarily delivered it into Xie Cheng's hands, making it Xie Cheng's dagger to counterattack him!
At this critical moment when Xie Jing was desperately thinking of countermeasures, his secretary knocked on the door to deliver the appraisal center's report —
"Chairman Xie, your appraisal report is out."
Xie Jing's gloomy expression finally relaxed a bit.
That's right, he had forgotten there was still this.
Once he obtained evidence that Xie Cheng was addicted to drugs, he might still be able to forcefully send him to rehab.
Relying on the evidence Lan Xi had previously provided, he still had a chance to turn the tables!
Xie Jing opened the appraisal report with an almost excited anticipation. This was currently his only bet!
However, things turned out contrary to his wishes —
"Upon appraisal, the submitted powder samples have been identified as freeze-dried coffee powder, dehydrated under low temperatures...in compliance with current food safety standards. The coffee beans are estimated to originate from Yunnan..."
Xie Jing stared wide-eyed, almost unable to believe his eyes.
Coffee powder?!
That powder was freeze-dried coffee powder?!
This can't be right.
Didn't Lan Xi clearly say that Xie Cheng was addicted to this stuff and inhaled it every day?
However, the appraisal report came from the most authoritative and impartial appraisal center, so there was no possibility of fraud or error. In that case — the only answer could be that Lan Xi had ulterior motives long ago!
She had deliberately fobbed him off with freeze-dried coffee powder!
Xie Jing traced back the timeline and felt his teeth gnashing in anger.
No wonder the information she later provided seemed useless. And here he was, still happy that she had Xie Cheng wrapped around her finger, wallowing in her tenderness. He didn't expect this woman was actively seducing Xie Cheng purely based on her desire to move up the ranks and had long forgotten the mission Xie Jing gave her! Her wings were already stiff and she no longer intended to listen to Xie Jing's arrangements!
The enemy was within!
What kind of bargaining chip would now be enough to make Lan Xi abandon the lure of becoming Xie Cheng's new boss's wife and return to his camp?
When it rains, it pours. At this moment, his secretary knocked on the door again with an embarrassed look —
"Chairman Xie, Chairman Yun Fei is waiting outside your office wanting to see you. He doesn't have an appointment...what should I do..."
When one has bad luck, even drinking cold water will make your teeth ache. If Xie Jing had to rank the people he least wanted to see right now as #1 and #2, it would definitely be Xie Cheng and Lan Xi. His useless son, Xie Yunfei, would absolutely be #3.
Although Xie Jing currently controlled Cheng'an, if Xie Yunfei couldn't step up, how could Cheng'an continue to be controlled by his family when he got old and was coveted by Xie Cheng?
Although Xie Jing had consciously tried to support his son, Xie Yunfei really was a hopeless case. He had barely graduated from university and was supposed to start working at Cheng'an as agreed. But he seldom actually went to work properly after the first few days.
More often, Xie Jing saw his son's name in the entertainment section of the newspapers — either passionately dating some budding model, showing up at some internet celebrity's movie premiere, or dirty dancing with some hot chicks at a nightclub...
Everyone at Cheng'an knew Xie Yunfei's position was in name only. He understood neither business operations nor management, and had no interest in career matters. He was merely a playboy.
And when Xie Yunfei took the initiative to come to Cheng'an to find him, it was either to ask for money or to clean up some mess he had gotten himself into again.
Sure enough —
"Dad, why did you freeze my credit card? I was out for drinks with Lisa last night and promised I would open a few good bottles to celebrate her birthday. But when it came time to settle the bill, I couldn't pay no matter what, and it made Lisa lose a lot of face. Now she broke up with me..."
"Before Wan Yan, that beauty who walked out of your office just now looked even prettier than Lisa. What a hot figure! Is she a new employee in our company?" Xie Yunfei suddenly changed the subject.
What Xie Jing dreaded the most was exactly this — it was bad enough Xie Yunfei fooled around outside, now he even wanted to bring such unhealthy tendencies into Cheng'an.
"Dad, what's that girl's name just now? I suddenly feel that breaking up with Lisa isn't a bad thing. Why don't I pursue her instead? What do you think, is an office romance really that bad? She looks so pretty, maybe she can make me settle down..."
As he spoke, Xie Yunfei rubbed his palms together with a gleeful expression: "Dad, haven't you always said I don't come in to work? Look, starting tomorrow, I'll come to work every day! If you had told me earlier that our company had such pretty female employees, wouldn't my work passion have been aroused long ago?"
Xie Jing truly wanted to curse out his useless son. Was chasing girls the only proper matter in his brain? Other than being good at chasing girls, did he have any other talents?
But suddenly...wait a minute...
As Xie Jing looked at his womanizing son, inspiration struck him like lightning.
Although his son was usually worthless, he was tall and handsome. Because he liked socializing and cared about appearances, he worked out regularly and kept his body in good shape. His features were handsome too, although the dark eye circles from alcohol and partying took away from it somewhat. But overall, he was considered rather attractive in this circle, not on Xie Cheng's level but ahead in being smooth-talking and romantic. Plus he was free-spending when chasing girls, able to easily spout sweet nothings. As a result, he was quite popular with the ladies. Hadn't he even bragged to Xie Jing before about chasing that famously aloof national little flower goddess within a month?
So since his son was so adept at this, why not take advantage of his skills?
If he were sent to pursue Lan Xi and steal Xie Cheng's girl, also promising Lan Xi the position of Cheng'an's future boss's wife, wouldn't that be an even bigger bait than just Cheng'an's boss's wife? She might switch back to his side! Then all of Xie Cheng's business information would fall into his hands through Lan Xi! Moreover, after stalking Xie Cheng for so long, Lan Xi must know some of his other secrets and weaknesses too. As long as he had Lan Xi, she would naturally reveal everything to him!
The more Xie Jing thought about this, the more spirited he became. Even his useless son now looked barely satisfactory.
Xie Jing took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, then amiably looked towards Xie Yunfei: "My son, this girl is called Lan Xi. She works at Cheng'an. Now I do need you to put your heart into pursuing her..."
......
The most important thing in being successful is keeping calm under fire and turning disadvantages into advantages!
That's how it will be done!
Xie Jing refuses to admit defeat until the end!!
