The next day, in the morning.
The sun was bright, and through the sparse clouds, lush trees cast dappled shadows. The evergreen leaves appeared even more vivid under the light. Along the streets, a few flowers that didn’t fear the cold quietly bloomed, looking especially charming under the warm sun.
On the river, the sunlight sparkled, dancing on the surface and flashing dazzling light. Many pedestrians strolled leisurely along the bank, looking very relaxed.
Lin Chuan hadn’t indulged in sleeping in.
He had gotten up early, going to work with Little Landlady.
At Company 720, there were still a heap of matters waiting for him to deal with. With Morgan and Baisheng Groups stirring in the shadows, he couldn’t rest easy leaving Little Landlady alone.
"Chairman."
Inside the office, by the balcony.
Little Landlady brought over a cup of breakfast milk and handed it to Lin Chuan.
She was wearing a light gray suit. The well-fitted trousers highlighted her straight long legs. On her feet were a pair of understated luxurious leather shoes that exuded an intellectual charm.
Lin Chuan took the breakfast milk and yawned, "When will our company finally have a holiday?"
It was proven.
Even as a chairman, he was always thinking about holidays.
Indeed, being a web novel writer wasn’t really suited for office work.
Not at all comfortable.
Little Landlady smiled knowingly, "We’ll have holidays starting from New Year’s Day, just a few more days to go. But how come you’re thinking about holidays just after one day of work?"
"Thinking about holidays while working; that’s quite reasonable, right?"
Lin Chuan sipped his breakfast milk; it was warm, just like Little Landlady.
"Pfft."
Little Landlady covered her mouth and giggled, "Reasonable, of course."
"Not taking any compensatory leave, right?" Lin Chuan set aside the breakfast milk and asked further, as basically all the office matters were managed by Little Landlady, and he was just a nominal chairman.
If Little Landlady had any ambitions, he would eventually be sidelined.
Sadly for her, she didn’t harbor any such intentions.
"No compensatory leave, I’ll make sure your vacation starts on time," said Little Landlady, holding onto Lin Chuan’s arm and smiling brightly.
Only then did Lin Chuan smile, affectionately stroking Little Landlady’s hair.
Little Landlady slightly protested, quickly fixing her slightly messy strands of hair, "Chairman, I still have to interview some job applicants later."
"Another interview?" Lin Chuan questioned.
"Yes."
Little Landlady nodded gently, her lips pursed, "Karl was arrested, leaving a vacancy for the technical department manager. Plus, with the news you spread recently, a receptionist and a few clerks have resigned too, fearing we couldn’t pay their wages."
"How realistic!" Lin Chuan sighed.
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"300 billion; just saying it is scary enough, and it wore you out too."
Little Landlady laughed.
As she spoke, she pressed Lin Chuan down to sit and started massaging his temples with just the right pressure, making him feel very comfortable.
Her delicate fingers gently pressed on his temples. Lin Chuan could feel the continued pressure, those hands slightly cool.
Lin Chuan grabbed her hands and held them in his own, blowing warm air over them.
Little Landlady smiled shyly, her face still tinged with bashfulness.
It was quite miraculous; even though they knew each other inside out and had been frank so many times, every intimate gesture Lin Chuan made still made Little Landlady slightly bashful.
Or rather, it was an enticing shyness.
Lin Chuan and Little Landlady switched positions.
She in front, he behind.
He stood behind Little Landlady, using his thumb to press against her temples, while the rest of his fingers rested gently on her smooth forehead, pressing lightly.
"Ah, this is so relaxing." Little Landlady closed her eyes, leaning into Lin Chuan’s embrace, exhibiting a posture of pure enjoyment.
"I regret it," Lin Chuan said with a light laugh.
"What do you regret?" Little Landlady asked.
"I regret starting this company. Apart from making money, it’s useless, and it’s completely exhausting Xinxin." Lin Chuan’s large hands casually pinched Xinxin’s cheeks, which were smooth because she wasn’t wearing any makeup.
His hands started moving lower.
Little Landlady gently slapped the back of his hand, puckering her lips slightly and playfully scolded, "Your massage is getting a little naughty."
"It’s a habit," Lin Chuan said, smiling resignedly.
"If you can’t control yourself later, it might just interfere with the recruitment," Little Landlady, prioritizing the company, said with a light laugh.
Lin Chuan moved his hand back up, continuing to massage the acupoints honestly.
He also took the opportunity to remind her, "Xinxin, be careful these days. Don’t walk alone. It’s best to stay with me."
"I know, you’ve reminded me many times, I keep it all in mind," Little Landlady replied with a smile at the corner of her mouth.
"How long is the interview this time?" Lin Chuan casually asked.
"Today there are two sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. There are quite a few people, even foreigners," Little Landlady, enjoying Lin Chuan’s massage techniques, said, "Your massage, no matter where you press, it’s always so comfortable."
Cough, cough.
Lin Chuan coughed lightly twice, "I was just worried about delaying the interview, and now you’re tempting me."
"Just teasing you," Little Landlady giggled.
"About the foreigners you mentioned..." Lin Chuan paused.
"What about them?"
"Just be careful. Never mind, give me the list of all candidates interviewed today, after they’re done. I’ll check them myself," Lin Chuan decided after a thoughtful moment, his eyebrows slightly furrowing.
"Are you personally screening because you’re worried about recruiting spies like Karl?" Little Landlady was also stunned.
These days,
the company had returned to normal operations.
Apart from Lin Chuan reminding her to be cautious yesterday, she hadn’t thought too much about it.
Could there really be spies among the interviewees?
"Spies?" Lin Chuan pondered for a moment, then continued, "There’s that concern. For your safety, it’s better to be safe."
"Okay."
Little Landlady grabbed Lin Chuan’s large hand, rubbing it gently against her smooth, delicate cheek, then glanced at her wristwatch - a light pink one.
The time was 09:45.
She then said, "All right, I should go to the interviews."
"Drink your milk before you go." Lin Chuan pointed to another cup of breakfast milk on the table, reminding her.
Little Landlady arched an eyebrow, blinked, picked up her documents, and walked out of the office, her whole being radiating youthful energy.
Little Landlady had graduated six months ago.
At this age, she possessed the youthful allure of a college girl, the charm of a young, wealthy socialite, and the competence of a chairman’s secretary.
Little Landlady was like the apple of his eye; he couldn’t bear to see her hurt.
Now, only Lin Chuan was left in the office.
He looked out at the bright sunshine outside the window, took a deep breath, and smiled knowingly.
Then, he returned to his chairman’s desk.
Time to start work!
The first order of business –
— check the feedback from Hao and Hou, his two double agents.
Whether they could overturn the Morgan Group’s Asia-Pacific Branch depended largely on the performance of these two agents.
In Lin Chuan’s view.
Hao and Hou, the two "newly promoted agents," only needed to act naturally and not expose his existence to be perfect.
They performed quite well.
Soon, Lin Chuan saw an encrypted message sent by Hao.
Lin Chuan typed a series of characters, decrypted it, and saw his message content: "New Year’s Day."
Concise and to the point.
This was the quintessence of being an agent.
Apart from encrypted messages, the messages transmitted by agents were often not lengthy. If it can be summed up in one word, no need for two, if it can be summed up in one phrase, then certainly not a whole sentence.
The messages sent by agents differed from files.
Files need to be precise and accurate.
For agents, each line of communication had its corresponding code words.
Like in the Virtual World, Mr. Lin and Qin’s code word was a dialectal ’dear,’ which was ridiculous, and a set of dialectal code systems.
Even if it were exposed, others couldn’t decipher it.
Who would have thought they’d use authentic dialect as code?
Lin Chuan had also agreed with Hao -- sending just one time meant the time for the other party to act.
Without a doubt.
New Year’s Day was the action time for the Morgan Group.
Lin Chuan sighed lightly, "Damn, I wanted to take a holiday on New Year’s Day, spend some quality time with Little Landlady, but you guys chose this time. Romantic as a brick!"
But, the command of the operation was ultimately in the other party’s hands.
New Year’s Day then, New Year’s Day it is.
Quick battle, quick decision!
Lin Chuan thought for a bit and then asked, "1, 2?"
1, in the code, stands for Yu Qin.
2, represents Lucas.
Meaning, are both Yu Qin and Lucas coming?
Very soon.
Pangolin A, Hao, replied: "1."
Only Yu Qin would act, Lucas wouldn’t come.
Lin Chuan guessed that Lucas’s leg probably hadn’t fully healed, unsuitable for long-distance travel.
He then replied with a ’3’.
3, which means the OK gesture.
Surely, not long after.
On Yu Qin’s side, under the alias of Monkey Editor, a message was sent to Xinxin, stating that Hao and Hou would head to Anling before New Year’s Day to discuss the copyright issue of "I Am Not the Medicine God".
Driven by Lin Chuan, this trip composed of Yu Qin + Hao and Hou was perfectly facilitated.
The only uncertainty for Lin Chuan was which people Yu Qin would bring, where they would be distributed, and how they would act?
These were uncontrollable points.
Where was the Assassin?
While Lin Chuan was thinking about these fragmented issues, the notification bar at the bottom of the computer screen flickered with a message.
He slid the mouse and clicked.
"Still doing okay, idol? /GoodMorning.jpg"
This message was sent by Angelina.
For this book friend from North Bear, Mo City, Lin Chuan felt a sense of gratitude. Both sides were like good friends, sharing the same interests, and both were hackers.
Lin Chuan smiled, naturally resting his hands on the keyboard, and casually typed: "Thanks for asking, all is well."
"So tired, couldn’t sleep all night. /Yawn.jpg" Angelina replied again.
"Having insomnia?" Lin Chuan asked.
The two chatted idly, speaking sporadically.
Angelina first sent a ’shaking head’ emoji, then said, "Not really, just couldn’t sleep comfortably on the plane, the seat was too small, and I had to change flights; luckily, I didn’t bring much luggage."
"Looks like you were on a very long flight," Lin Chuan chuckled.
"It was quite long, almost over ten hours," Angelina replied, then counterasked, "Why don’t you ask where I’m going?"
Lin Chuan paused, thought for a moment, and then replied, "As a hacker, on such a long flight, do you have a new task?"
At that moment.
Angelina was sitting on a chair outside a spacious corridor, next to a suitcase, hugging a black down jacket, wearing a black knitted sweater with a high collar, her pale skin appearing even whiter.
She looked through the corridor’s window, the sunlight bright, the scenery lush and green.
This was a stunning view completely absent in the winter of North Bear, Mo City.
Of course.
This place, compared to North Bear, Mo City, was much warmer.
She then looked at her phone again, where Lin Chuan’s message awaited.
A new task?
Well... kind of, hee hee.
Angelina smiled, holding her phone, and smilingly replied, "Consider it a new task, but one I set for myself."
"Giving yourself overtime, huh? You’re too idle."
Lin Chuan, as the chairman of the 720 company, had rarely seen self-imposed overtime.
"I do what I like, regardless if it’s idle or not," Angelina had her own ideas.
Lin Chuan gave her a thumbs up: "/ThumbsUp.jpg."
"Idol, you still haven’t guessed where I am," Angelina, holding her phone, smiled as she typed a string of characters and asked.
"Let me guess, departing from Mo City, about ten hours on a plane, changing flights in between, then, you could fly to Europe’s Italy, are you going to see the Mafia?" Lin Chuan joked.
"Mafia? I’m not interested in them, guess again."
Angelina waited playfully for Lin Chuan’s response.
"Then is it... Brazil?"
"Incorrect."
"Africa?"
"That’s wrong too."
"Canada?"
"/NO.jpg."
"Maldives?"
"Getting closer."
Angelina, smiling as she touched her phone, suddenly, from the corridor, a voice echoed —
"Angelina, hello, it’s your turn for the interview."
Angelina looked up, immediately displaying a polite smile, nodding repeatedly, "Okay, okay."
Subsequently.
She swiftly sent Lin Chuan a message: "Idol, my task is here, can’t chat anymore."

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