It Is Unwise to Judge Others by Oneself!

Lin Wenhua's attitude caught everyone in the room off guard.

At the very least, they hadn't expected him to cave so quickly, let alone be the first to voice agreement with Xu Shi's proposal. Was he really not going to parry a little longer? But this wasn't the time to dwell on that. Seeing Lin Wenhua's stance, the others no longer hesitated and raised their hands one after another.

"It seems no one has any objections." Xu Shi smiled faintly and clapped his hands. "Then let's welcome once again the new head of the Technical Department, Miss Gu Yi."

As he spoke, he pulled Gu Yi to his side, putting on a show of intimacy. Miss Black Rabbit was still dazed, forcing a stiff smile in her confusion. The others, seeing this, offered tepid congratulations in turn.

"I really appreciate your support, Uncle Lin." Amid the applause, Xu Shi turned to look at Lin Wenhua.

"Chairman Xu is so devoted to the group, of course I have to give my full backing." Lin Wenhua replied calmly. "If your father could see this, I'm sure he'd be very pleased."

"Indeed." Xu Shi acknowledged with a single word, then ignored him, instead greeting the distracted Jiang Fengshan on the other side. "Manager Jiang, you recovered from your illness quite quickly."

"...Ah, yes, yes." Jiang Fengshan snapped back to attention and quickly put on a fawning smile. "Medical technology is very advanced these days."

"That's true. You're getting on in years, you need to take care of yourself." Xu Shi nodded. "Otherwise, if one day—don't blame me for being blunt—if you were gone, what would the group do, right?" He left him with a meaningful look, then stood up and walked away.

"This... why?" Even after leaving the company and sitting in Xu Shi's car, Gu Yi was still in a daze.

"Why what?" Xu Shi asked knowingly.

"It's you... why did you make me the head of the Technical Department?" Miss Black Rabbit shook her head, her words full of disbelief. When that Bastard Xu had told her to attend the meeting, her first thought was that he was going to humiliate her in front of everyone, strip her bare. After all, in her eyes, that fit Xu Shi's usual style... She'd been worried about it for days. But she never expected things to turn out like this—it was a completely unexpected twist. Was she really... one of the top executives of a leading conglomerate now? Even if the Technical Department didn't carry as much weight, it was still a height ordinary people could never reach in a lifetime. At least she'd never dreamed of it—if someone had told her this two weeks ago, she'd probably have laughed at them all day. It made Gu Yi feel like she was walking on cotton, dazed and unreal.

"I told you, ability is what I value." Xu Shi chuckled. "And I have to admit, you're the most skilled hacker I've ever seen." Not to mention a hacker who was an "Ascendant" with a specialized ability. Gu Yi's ability had long since reached his hands, exactly as it was in the original story. "Data Supercomputer"—its concrete manifestation was an extraordinary learning capacity in information technology, along with a high degree of personal focus. In other words, a born genius hacker. She'd actually awakened her ability years ago; otherwise, she couldn't have single-handedly toyed with most of Night City's corporations. But she didn't know it herself, and combined with the Inspection Bureau's pursuit, her ability had grown slowly. For now, though, it was more than enough. And if he remembered correctly, after experiencing "Re-Ascension" in the middle of the story, she alone could counter over a dozen AI programs with ultra-high computing power.

"But... are you really comfortable handing something like this to me?" Miss Black Rabbit blinked. "Not afraid I'll stab you in the back or something?"

"I believe you won't do that." As he said this, the mockery on Xu Shi's face suddenly vanished, replaced by a more earnest tone. "Or do you really want to live in the gutter as a wanted criminal for the rest of your life?"

Gu Yi fell silent at that. Those words had truly struck a chord.

The past few days had been exciting enough, but constantly hiding from the Inspection Bureau's pursuit wasn't really sustainable.

Having to be cautious about everything, seeing everyone as plainclothes agents... that's how she developed this fear of crowds.

And she suddenly realized something—Xu Shi had never mentioned her identity as "Miss Black Rabbit" to anyone outside.

Compared to the wanted fugitive she was online, the name Gu Yi was surprisingly clean.

And if it was just a single hacker attack... like he'd said before, with a conglomerate backing it, it wasn't a problem.

"You..."

Thinking about it this way, when she looked at Xu Shi again, her emotions suddenly grew complicated.

Xu Shi just narrowed his eyes and smiled, nodding slightly.

Just what you're thinking.

"Then... since you're saying that... fine."

Without hesitating long, Miss Black Rabbit stammered, "I'll try... not to cause you trouble, okay."

"I'm glad you think that way."

Xu Shi contentedly hooked his finger around her neck ring, leaned in, and smirked, "And if you really do act up, don't think I can't handle you."

The moment he let go, a faint jolt of electricity made Gu Yi shudder.

"...You bastard! I'll fight you!"

Gu Yi froze, then lunged at him to bite.

Xu Shi burst out laughing.

He had to admit, if there was one female lead easiest to handle, it was definitely Gu Yi.

After all, she was the most typical type that grew over time—if it were mid-plot, after her transformation, she'd be no worse than Xia Wuyou.

But right now, she was just a timid, naive hacker girl. As long as he found the right angle, breaking through her defenses was a matter of minutes.

The fact that she could ask that question proved she wouldn't actually do it.

Not to mention he'd used his ability... though it probably wasn't necessary, Chairman Xu still followed the principle of "ninety-eight percent equals death" and influenced her with "Malice Entropy."

She's becoming more and more the shape I want.

Listening to the scuffling from the back seat, Su Lin, acting as the driver, silently sighed.

How to put it... she felt the Young Master was growing up fast, and his methods for handling people were flawless.

The carrot-and-stick approach—he'd mastered it.

Not that it was a bad thing; as the head of a top-tier conglomerate, being skilled in these matters was necessary... but she still felt a certain indescribable twinge in her heart.

...Ah well, the Young Master has to grow up eventually.

Silently comforting herself, she returned to her usual stern expression.

"Speaking of which, where are we going?"

Seeing she couldn't beat Bastard Xu, Miss Black Rabbit sulkily gave up but noticed something else.

This wasn't the way back to the dorms.

"Moving you to a new place."

Xu Shi straightened his clothes. "You've been exposed to those old fogeys. The employee dorms aren't safe anymore."

"They won't show you any leniency because of your abilities. Instead, they'll find ways to make you disappear from this world."

After all, those deadweight old bastards didn't care about the company's development.

Rather than trying to recruit her, it was easier to just kill her outright. That way, Xu Anbang could smoothly return to his post, and if not him, someone else.

As for why Xu Shi was so certain...

It was because he was planning to do something similar himself.