Are You Really Having a Conversation?

Tang Shuang stared at the shattered glass at her feet, completely dumbfounded.

Xu Shi had... thrown a cup at her?

He had even told her to get out?

Honestly, this was nothing like what she had expected.

Of course, she had not been foolish enough to think a few words from her would make him obey her every command.

But at the very least, shouldn't this have been a normal negotiation?

But now? What kind of unexpected development was this?

It was like a married couple arguing and smashing things... Ahem, perhaps that was not quite appropriate, but that was roughly the idea.

"...Chairman Xu, do you know what you're doing?"

Once Tang Shuang came to her senses after being treated like that, rage surged through her. "May I take that as a deliberate assault on a public official?"

"Don't go pinning labels on people so casually, Director Tang."

Xu Shi unhurriedly wiped his hands. "My hand slipped... Did I hurt you?"

Of course not.

Not only had he controlled his strength perfectly, but Inspection Bureau uniforms were specially modified. Even a Red Ant-level explosion might not have hurt her.

"Besides, shouldn't I be the one asking that?"

So Xu Shi was not worried about that at all. He merely looked at her coolly. "Director Tang, do you know what you're doing?"

"What did you say?"

Tang Shuang did not understand for a moment, but she still gritted her teeth and glared at him furiously.

"It seems Director Tang doesn't understand what I mean."

Xu Shi shook his head. "Then let me put it another way... Why do you think I equipped heavy weapons for the transport operation? Do you think it was for fun?"

"That was because I learned beforehand that someone in Sin City was targeting me. I had no choice but to bring more things for protection in an emergency."

"...That doesn't excuse your company from failing to register them."

Tang Shuang paused, but still insisted.

"But that's precisely what's strange."

Xu Shi frowned. "Cracking down on street gangs should have been your Inspection Bureau's job, so why hadn't I seen any sign of you, either before or after the incident?"

"Yet now you've come running over to tell me it was noncompliant... Can you possibly be any more shameless?"

"I..."

Tang Shuang rolled her eyes at him. As if you need my help?

After all, everyone knew that in Night Sin City, Serpent Coil's armaments were indisputably the best.

Nearly eighty percent of the Inspection Bureau's weapons were even purchased from them.

But under the framework governing the various agencies, the Inspection Bureau indeed had the responsibility and obligation to assist Serpent Coil. Even if they took this to court, Xu Shi would still be in the right.

Well, damn...

"Besides, we weren't the only ones who damaged Huajin Plain and District Seven, were we?"

Xu Shi did not give her a chance to catch her breath. "At the end of the day, Serpent Coil was the victim, while Spark was the real culprit. Before Director Tang questions us, shouldn't you wipe them out first?"

"Or are you wearing the same pants as Spark? Do you have some unspeakable little secret between you?"

"...You can't just say things like that."

Tang Shuang was so angry that both her hands were trembling.

"That's what it looks like to me."

Xu Shi ignored her and swiped his hand, showing her several pictures. "Take a good look, Director Tang. We seized these from Spark... If I remember correctly, the Humming Swan II Rocket Launcher and the UR-Shuo Forcefield Armor also count as heavy equipment, don't they?"

"..."

"So my personal suggestion is that Director Tang should get some real work done. Even the stray dogs in Sin City are about to be fitted with armor."

Xu Shi sneered and pressed his palms together in mock supplication. "Instead of staring at a poor, innocent, conscientious enterprise that has been Night City's largest taxpayer for seven consecutive years, all right?"

"I'm starting to wonder whether all those taxes paid every year went straight into some dog's belly."

Tang Shuang truly had nothing to say about that.

The Inspection Bureau was not exactly a spotless institution, and there were indeed plenty under her command who took bribes, extorted favors, and lined their own pockets.

But she herself was absolutely aboveboard in that regard.

That finally gave her back a little confidence. She met Xu Shi's gaze head-on. "Poor and innocent don't have anything to do with you... Are you really that clean?"

"That's slander. I'll call my lawyer."

Xu Shi scoffed. "You can't just say things like that... Show me the evidence."

I'm upright through and through—no, full of righteousness. Why would I be afraid of an investigation?

"...Fine, I understand."

After a long while, Tang Shuang finally forced out a sentence through clenched teeth. "I was indeed presumptuous today. I hope Chairman Xu will not take offense."

"See yourself out."

There was no way this conversation could continue. Tang Shuang turned on her heel and left in a huff.

It had been a complete defeat, leaving her vexed and unsettled.

To be honest, she had expected before coming that Xu Shi might be difficult to deal with.

But she had never expected things to turn out like this—after talking for so long, the matter she had come to handle had made no progress whatsoever.

Instead, he had seized on her and thoroughly berated and humiliated her... Who was interrogating whom again?

Tang Shuang felt utterly humiliated, and her disgust for Xu Shi grew even stronger.

You want evidence, do you? Just wait!

I refuse to believe there won't come a day when I can deal with you!

The Director of the Inspection Bureau had yet to realize that the focus of her attention seemed to have gradually drifted from what truly mattered.

As she left, Tang Shuang ran into Su Lin, who was approaching from the other direction.

And Tang Shuang's current state shocked Miss Su Lin.

Her cheeks were flushed, her breathing hurried, and the front of her clothes rose and fell violently... Good lord, what exactly had you two talked about?

Or rather, how had you been talking?

How did this look anything like a negotiation?!

When she heard what Xu Shi had done, she found it even stranger.

"Was that really a good idea, Young Master?"

She did not doubt that Xu Shi would leave anything for Tang Shuang to catch. She had always helped him clean up afterward, and Tang Shuang would not find any leverage against him.

But the problem was, even if you weren't afraid of thieves stealing from you, could you afford not to fear them watching you?

The Young Master had only just formally declared war on Lin Wenhua. If the Inspection Bureau started following him around like flies, it would definitely not be a good thing.

Xu Shi, however, was not concerned in the slightest.

After all, from the very beginning, he had never intended to reason with Tang Shuang.

She had come to demand answers. If he followed her line of argument, whether he defended himself or tried to prove his innocence, he would inevitably fall into the trap she had set.

With people like that, all he had to do was seize the moral high ground in return and tear into them mercilessly.

I wasn't the one who caused all this. It was the Inspection Bureau's negligence!

Though he had never expected them to offer him any help, it still made perfect sense morally and logically.

And after an experience like this, when Director Tang, so iron-faced and impartial, truly faced Spark in the future, could she still let Shen He off as she had in the original story?

Most likely, she would be desperate to arrest him herself and use that as leverage against Xu Shi, wouldn't she?