Chapter 26
Xia Wansheng couldn’t focus on Yu Congyan’s words at the moment.
The long-silent system suddenly came online, bringing bad news.
[Host, I’ve been infected by a virus…] The electronic voice was distorted by static, speaking intermittently, [Need…repair…some time…you…good luck…main mission…]
After a piercing screech, the voice in his mind disappeared completely.
“System? Are you still there?” Xia Wansheng called out tentatively, but was met with only silence.
“…”
What was going on?
Seriously?
Xia Wansheng felt like he had diligently worked on a project until the very end, only for the client to go bankrupt right before payment.
The system hadn’t mentioned any potential glitches when assigning the task.
Now, instead of waiting for the system to finish its virus scan, it was better to cut his losses and run.
Forget the five million, he had to grab the system’s tail and go offline.
Yu Congyan waited for a few seconds but didn’t hear a response.
Just as he was about to speak again, he suddenly saw the other person move.
Xia Wansheng reached out and grabbed the brick railing, as if preparing to climb over the edge of the well.
“!!!” He was trying to kill himself again!
Yu Congyan barely had time to react, instinctively rushing forward and grabbing Xia Wansheng’s waist, pulling him back.
“Don’t stop me…” Xia Wansheng was truly panicked now.
If he didn’t leave now, it would be too late. He didn’t know if the system’s bug could be fixed, but he had bugs to fix back home!
Although his life was lonely and monotonous, at least it was real. Who knew what unpredictable things would happen if he continued playing this role?
Just as he was about to try again, the electronic voice in his mind reappeared:
[Attention all hosts: During system maintenance, all offline channels are temporarily closed. You can apply for self-service offline after the plot is completed.]
Xia Wansheng froze.
The electronic voice continued:
[Attention, all offline channels are temporarily closed! Please refrain from any drastic actions!]
“???”
What kind of half-baked system was this, running code on a mountain of bugs? Shouldn’t this important reminder have been at the beginning?
Why not put it even later?
Xia Wansheng felt helpless, a wave of fear washing over him.
Even after pulling him back, Yu Congyan still held him tightly, not daring to let go.
“You…” He wanted to ask Xia Wansheng what was wrong, but the trembling in his arms made him swallow his words.
Yu Congyan hesitated, then patted Xia Wansheng’s back, trying to calm him down.
“Sorry, I didn’t hear you outside just now.” Xia Wansheng spoke, his voice hoarse.
The worst-case scenario was that he had to wait until the plot was completed to return.
Until then, he still had to play the role of the clueless canary.
He was always good at managing his emotions, and he had to do so now.
“…That’s not the issue right now.” Yu Congyan didn’t understand what was going on in his mind.
After being pulled back from the brink of death, his first response was to explain why he didn’t answer the phone?
Xia Wansheng didn’t want to continue the topic of his failed suicide attempt. If he was questioned further, he couldn’t find an excuse to explain his actions.
He decided to change the subject: “Have you offended anyone recently?”
The earlier chaos was most likely directed at Yu Congyan, using public opinion to damage his reputation.
Seeing he didn’t want to talk about it, Yu Congyan played along: “Perhaps?”
Was there a way to conduct business without offending anyone?
“That incident earlier was probably targeting you.” Xia Wansheng briefly described the scene, emphasizing their suspicious behavior.
He deliberately omitted the part about his fall.
“It doesn’t matter if the program team is targeted, but how are we going to handle the PR pressure?” Xia Wansheng reminded him.
His previous company’s stock price had plummeted, he didn’t want the same thing to happen to Yu Congyan’s company.
Besides, downsizing such a large corporation would lead to many job losses.
Workers always stood together.
“Don’t worry, it will be fine.” Yu Congyan reassured him.
Then, a thought occurred to him: Was this why Xia Wansheng was so distraught? Was the Shao family still threatening him?
After all, only the Shao family knew about his investment in this program and could act so quickly to exploit this opportunity.
Similar business tactics had been used in his past life, although the methods were different, the outcome was the same.
His company’s reputation had been severely damaged, and he had been excluded from the core leadership.
The key incident then was Xia Wansheng obtaining the bidding documents for the suburban project in advance, turning the tables at the last minute, leading to his defeat.
Now, Xia Wansheng was staying at the guesthouse arranged by the program team, and the crucial documents were locked in his study safe.
Two password locks plus a fingerprint lock, with eight cameras installed around it.
It was foolproof.
Moreover, all signs indicated that Xia Wansheng’s current state might be due to his own negligence and indifference. His previous suspicion had only worsened the situation.
The atmosphere in the guesthouse was lively.
But the focus of their discussion wasn’t the troublesome villagers they encountered earlier, but Yu Congyan and Xia Wansheng, who were currently alone together.
“I told you their relationship wasn’t ordinary. You didn’t see CEO Yu’s expression when he rushed out, it was terrifying!” The assistant said excitedly.
Everything had seemed normal, but after failing to reach Xia Wansheng on the phone, CEO Yu seemed like a different person.
He usually remained calm and collected even in the face of major crises, but the moment he heard the busy signal, he became like a lit firecracker, ignoring everything and rushing out.
He must be deeply in love!
“Things might not be as they appear…”
The intern, Chu You, stopped mid-sentence as the team leader patted his shoulder, shaking his head gravely.
This misunderstanding might not be a bad thing. If they voiced their suspicions now, it would damage Xia Wansheng’s reputation.
Mr. Xia had sacrificed so much for them, and yet no one spoke up for him.
Chu You swallowed his words, continuing to sulk while looking at the unedited footage.
Thankfully, because of the earlier incident, they could add more shots of Xia Wansheng in the behind-the-scenes footage.
“Xiao You, don’t you think so?” The assistant suddenly called his name.
“Uh, I…” Chu You didn’t know how to respond.
Fortunately, the two of them returned at that moment, and everyone rushed to greet them, no longer dwelling on the topic.
Chu You felt a sense of frustration.
Especially when he saw Xia Wansheng casually greeting everyone as if nothing had happened, then being called away by Yu Congyan to treat his wound.
He didn’t believe it was just about treating a wound, they were probably going to settle the score.
He was scrolling through videos out of boredom when he suddenly saw a familiar scene, the location seemed to be around here.
The picture showed the program crew barging into a villager’s house with their cameras, under the guise of promoting them.
The caption was also infuriating, accusing them of trespassing and abuse of power. The topic was already trending locally.
“!!!” Chu You froze, staring at his phone, then pushed away his chair and jumped up.
Something big had happened!
He hadn’t expected them to act so quickly. Although the director had warned them during the meeting, he had underestimated their determination.
Yu Congyan was also preparing to respond. Although he couldn’t return to the company until tomorrow, working overtime tonight could still mitigate the situation.
“CEO Yu, the information we have is enough to keep the Shao family occupied, why wait until tomorrow?” The assistant urged.
After all, prime time was the best time for reversing public opinion, and they had evidence, they should immediately slap them in the face!
“We don’t need to suppress tonight’s public opinion, someone will do it for us.” Yu Congyan said.
Free labor, why not use it?
As expected, the phone rang again shortly after.
“The director already told me about the incident, you didn’t handle this very well.” Old Man Yu called to lecture him, his tone smug,
“I’ve identified several of the video posters, once their information is released, your company’s stock price will plummet.”
He had always wanted to teach the younger generation a lesson, but Yu Congyan was too impeccable, leaving him no opportunity.
Now he had finally found the perfect chance.
He could use this as an excuse to make him return home and accept the family’s arrangements, instead of constantly messing around outside with no significant achievements.
“Thank you, but I’ll handle the rest.” Yu Congyan said indifferently.
This meant he didn’t need his interference.
“Why are you so stubborn? If it weren’t for my intervention, you would be working overtime dealing with this emergency right now, and things could get out of control in a few days!” Old Man Yu was both anxious and angry.
He had thought he could control Yu Congyan this time, but he was still as unyielding as ever, like punching cotton, infuriating.
He had grown wings, not even listening to his own father.
“Then do you know who’s behind this?” Old Man Yu was still unwilling to concede, determined to make him ask for his help.
He didn’t believe it. The Shao family must have other tricks up their sleeves, and Yu Congyan would definitely want to know who the mastermind was.
“Who else could it be? You were just drinking with CEO Shao yesterday.” Yu Congyan hung up the phone after speaking.
He didn’t dare to hear what his father would say next.
When Yu Xuan had tried to steal his work before, Old Man Yu hadn’t listened to his explanation, readily believing his elder brother.
Even though everyone knew it was his achievement.
Yu Congyan had known since then that he could only rely on himself for protection.
Old Man Yu, after being hung up on, slammed his hand on the table, almost bursting with anger at this unfilial son.
“Made a bit of money and thinks he’s a big shot now. Get back here for the family dinner and find a proper partner, he’s really getting out of control!”
Yu Congyan was lost in thought.
Xia Wansheng walked over and waved his hand gently in front of him.
“I left something at home, I need to go back. Do you need me to bring anything for you?” Xia Wansheng said calmly.
His right hand was tightly clenched.
The final part of the plot was simple, he just had to steal that important document.
Then, according to the book, he would wait for Yu Congyan to discover it, call the police, and then go offline.
“I don’t need anything,” Yu Congyan paused, then said with difficulty:
“Do you have to go back now?”
Xia Wansheng nodded.
Yu Congyan stared at Xia Wansheng for a long time, so long that Xia Wansheng thought his true intentions had been discovered, before he finally agreed.
“Okay, I’ll go with you.”
Perhaps he was just overthinking.
History wouldn’t repeat itself.
It wouldn’t.
Hoping it’s a surface act!