Disguise

"This is too despicable!" Chu Xiaoxiao was furious too.

Chu Feng was angry, but she quickly calmed down. She had seen plenty of underhanded tactics in business and wasn't about to lose her head over this.

"They're doing this just to cause us trouble. We can find new suppliers, and customs can't keep harping on the certification issue forever.

"These problems can all be solved with time. The trouble is, we don't have any!

"Several deals we've already made involve major overseas clients we worked hard to win over. If we breach our contracts on our very first transactions, it'll deal a serious blow to our reputation, and doing business in the future will be much harder." Chu Feng furrowed her brow.

"Mm. The Riyao Group has been in overseas trade for years, so they've surely invested a lot in cultivating connections at customs. We should have been more alert to that." Chu Xiaoxiao frowned and began thinking through possible solutions.

Though she was only seventeen, she had helped her mother run the company since she was little. She had beaten countless rivals in the cutthroat world of business, and was far more mature than most people her age.

When faced with setbacks, she didn't blame others or bemoan her fate. Instead, she began reflecting on what she could have done differently. Perhaps that was why she and Chu Feng had managed to build the vast Chu Group together.

Watching her daughter frown in thought, Chu Feng couldn't help but smile with satisfaction, even though they were facing a huge predicament.

She couldn't have been more pleased with her daughter.

Wait! Perhaps there really was one thing she couldn't be pleased about! Chu Feng's brow furrowed.

It was Monday, and Chu Xiaoxiao was here at this hour. That could only mean...

"Xiaoxiao! You skipped class again?" Chu Feng asked, her expression turning stern.

"Uh..." Chu Xiaoxiao looked up and smiled awkwardly.

How could she explain that she had nothing in common with those childish classmates?

Could you imagine interviewing a group of postdoctoral researchers who'd returned from overseas, then having to spend the next moment surrounded by a bunch of bashful high schoolers handing you love letters?

So her habit of skipping class was the one thing Chu Feng wasn't happy about.

"Mom! I'm already studying university courses on my own. What's the point of going to high school every day?" Chu Xiaoxiao clung to Chu Feng's arm and pleaded coquettishly.

"I send you to school not so you can sit in class. At the very least, you need to learn how to get along with people your own age! It's my fault for letting you get involved with the company too early. Now you don't even have one normal friend." Chu Feng shook her head with a sigh.

"Who says I don't? Sister Ye is my best friend now, and Nie..." Chu Xiaoxiao trailed off. She wasn't embarrassed; she just wasn't sure if Nie Yun could really count as a "normal" friend.

No matter how you looked at it, there was nothing normal about Nie Yun. Had you ever heard of a fisherman selling nuclear fuel?

Oh! That's right! Nuclear fuel!

Chu Xiaoxiao smacked her forehead. She'd finally remembered why she'd come!

"Mom, I didn't skip class on purpose today. I had a reason I absolutely had to skip!" Chu Xiaoxiao said gravely.

She had to be serious. This involved nuclear fuel! Even a national leader would have to take it seriously!

"Thump!" "Ow!" Before the serious look on Chu Xiaoxiao's face could last, her mother rapped her on the forehead.

"Trying that trick again? Do you think the same trick will work on your mother twice?" Chu Feng sneered.

Chu Xiaoxiao clutched her forehead, dumbfounded. Then she remembered that she'd used the same excuse the last time she skipped class. What had it been again? Oh, right—she'd said she had her period!

"Mom, believe me, this time it's real!" Chu Xiaoxiao said helplessly.

"Oh, your period really did come this time? The timing's off. Is your cycle irregular?" Chu Feng asked, taken aback.

"N-no! It's something else!" Chu Xiaoxiao could feel her serious expression crumbling.

"Heh! Then tell me, what's this reason you absolutely had to skip class for? Don't tell me your period's got a husband coming too." Chu Feng folded her arms, looking like she was settling in to watch a performance.

Chu Xiaoxiao covered her face. She had a bad feeling about this.

"What if I told you someone wanted to sell us nuclear fuel? Would you believe me?"

"Of course I would! Why wouldn't I? Nuclear fuel, sure—and if you told me someone wanted to sell us a nuclear bomb, I'd believe that too! So, how much is one? Get me a dozen!" Chu Feng sneered.

Without meaning to, Chu Feng had made a sarcastic remark that happened to be true. If she really wanted to buy them, Nie Yun could indeed make her a dozen!

"Mom! I'm serious! Your daughter isn't joking!" Chu Xiaoxiao looked as if she were badly constipated.

"You're serious?" Chu Feng could tell her daughter wasn't joking, and her expression immediately grew solemn.

"I am! I'll guarantee it by promising not to skip class for a whole year!" Chu Xiaoxiao said, throwing caution to the wind.

"Hm? Someone really wants to sell nuclear fuel? But how is that even possible?!" Chu Feng believed her at once. That was one hell of a guarantee!

"It... it's Nie Yun," Chu Xiaoxiao admitted.

"Him? But isn't he just a fisherman? What could he possibly have to do with nuclear fuel?"

It was a fair question. The concept of a nuclear-powered fisherman had never existed before Nie Yun. In five thousand years of history, you could ask, "Who else?!"

"He said it was from a friend of his who builds aircraft carriers..."

"Mm. And you believe him?" Chu Feng stared at Chu Xiaoxiao.

Ordinarily, anyone who said something like that would be taken for a fool or a lunatic. But Chu Xiaoxiao clearly didn't see it that way.

"I believe him!" Chu Xiaoxiao's little face was full of conviction.

"Do you like him?" Chu Feng asked suddenly.

Chu Xiaoxiao's face turned bright red. "Mom, w-what are you talking about? I just... just think he's reliable..."

Her voice grew quieter and quieter.

Chu Feng covered her forehead, looking heartbroken. When a woman thought a man was reliable, how far away could she be from falling for him? Was her precious daughter about to be stolen away?

A fire immediately flared up inside Chu Feng.

"Fine! I'll believe you this once. I'll arrange for domestic nuclear experts to go inspect it right away! If it's fake, you'll go to class properly for a whole year! And you're not allowed to date anyone!

"If it's real, you can skip class as much as you like from now on! Do you dare take that bet?"

"What's there to be afraid of?" Chu Xiaoxiao thrust out her full chest, undaunted!

I'll make sure to date early just to spite you!

The Chu Group certainly had connections. In just an hour, they had found a senior expert from the Atomic Energy Research Institute at Xiacheng University. He set out to sea with Ye Min, bringing professional testing equipment.

Chu Xiaoxiao had wanted to go with them to see Nie Yun, but Chu Feng had locked her up without giving her a choice.

"My little darling, every time you go out to sea, you get kidnapped. Give me a break, will you?"

With no other choice, Chu Xiaoxiao could only ask Ye Min to meet Nie Yun on her behalf, looking utterly aggrieved.

It was the same place as last time. Nie Yun hadn't changed at all: jeans, a tank top, and the battered fishing boat, the Sea Wolf.

"This is the nuclear fuel your company said they had?" The white-haired professor, nearly seventy years old, stared at the thermos in his hand with a look that said, Are you kidding me?

Ye Min said nothing. The corner of her eye twitched as she looked at Nie Yun.

"Ahem! Well, yes! It's a disguise! We disguised it like this. Who would ever guess what's inside?"

The professor and Ye Min stared at Nie Yun, speechless. Sure, they could believe him when he said it was a disguise—but did he really have to look so obviously pleased with the excuse he'd just come up with?