Gwen's Date

"That bitch deserves to be taken for everything she's got... You're our ticket to our first big payday."

Watching security guards hold Li Ritian down, ready to throw him out, Li Si walked over with a beaming smile.

But he didn't approach Li Ritian. Instead, he whispered something to the two burly guards, then pulled out a few bills and slipped them into their breast pockets with a smile.

"Heh, no problem. Don't worry, brother. Leave it to us."

After glancing at the amount in their pockets, the two guards grinned in unison. They hauled Li Ritian up and headed outside.

When Li Ritian heard what Li Si had said earlier, his face turned green. Trembling with rage, he said, "You... I've never done anything to you. Why are you trying to ruin me? Just you wait."

"I'll be waiting."

Li Si's smile grew even brighter. Watching that bastard get humiliated was more satisfying than drinking a can of ice-cold soda.

"Good morning, Mr. Lee Stein. It looks like we'll be coworkers from now on."

The white woman at the reception desk finally relaxed after seeing the guards escort the troublemaker away. She greeted Li Si with a smile.

"Thank you for your kind words, ma'am."

Li Si replied politely, then headed to the Cross-Species Genetics Department.

When he arrived, Li Si didn't enter the lab. Instead, he found his spot in the office area outside and sat down.

His position was merely Dr. Connors's assistant, and even that came with the label of "intern." He wasn't allowed into the lab unless necessary, and the work assigned to him was really just odd jobs.

It was basically clerical work: sitting at a desk and handling miscellaneous tasks on a computer, comparing and compiling experimental data while the researchers worked, and doing basic cleanup afterward.

He was happy enough with the easy job. Most people would've been glad to have such a comfortable desk job. Besides, it gave him the chance to study Oscorp's artificial intelligence up close. Even if he couldn't access the core code, learning how its surface-level framework was structured would still be useful.

He spent the morning taking it easy, chatting with Gwen whenever he had a chance. Before long, the whole morning had passed.

"Good afternoon, beautiful lady. Would you do me the honor of joining me for lunch?"

At noon, Li Si walked over to Gwen's desk with a bright smile, placed a hand over his chest, and bowed with practiced chivalry.

The people sitting nearby immediately started cheering and hooting, one after another.

"..."

Gwen shot Li Si an exasperated look, then her face broke into a smile. "Of course. But I get to choose where we go."

"I can see the mischief in your smile. I hope the owner doesn't make me wash dishes to pay for my meal!"

Seeing Gwen's expression, Li Si had a bad feeling, but he still shrugged and smiled.

However, when they reached the place Gwen had chosen, he couldn't smile anymore.

Li Si stared in disbelief, then turned to Gwen. "Gwen... this is where you planned to take me for our date? I have to say, this is truly terrible."

The place Gwen had chosen was none other than Oscorp's employee cafeteria.

"You said we were having lunch together, not going on a date, right?"

Gwen gave Li Si a playful smile as she looked at him.

"..."

Surrounded by a sea of people, Li Si was at a complete loss for words. But he refused to back down, and merely shrugged. "All right, you've learned to help me save money. I should be happy."

"Happy?"

Gwen was taken aback, then realized what he meant and shot him a glare. "I have to say, you really have no shame."

"Thanks for the compliment!"

Li Si grinned as he found an empty seat. "Have a seat, ma'am. I'll go get the food!"

With that, he joined the queue at a serving counter with fewer people.

It was only less crowded in comparison. Oscorp Tower had 108 floors and nearly ten thousand employees. Even with several cafeterias, they were all packed with people.

After standing in line for a full ten minutes, Li Si finally squeezed through the crowd carrying two meals.

"This lunch is nothing like what I had in mind. I've been saving my appetite since this morning so I could have a big feast!"

Li Si sat down across from Gwen, the two meals in hand, and gave her a helpless look.

Oscorp's food was actually quite good, with meat, vegetables, dessert, and drinks. But it was nothing like the date he'd imagined.

"I'm sorry," Gwen said apologetically. "The doctor asked me at the last minute to help with his experiments after lunch, so..."

"Fine, fine. That cancels out all the goodwill I'd managed to build up toward the doctor."

Li Si gritted his teeth as he spoke.

Seeing his expression, Gwen covered her mouth and giggled. "Maybe we can save our big meal for next time?"

"Of course, but next time, you have to invite me!"

Li Si sighed. "Gwen, this is the third time. You're crushing a genius scientist's confidence. I'm not even sure I'll have the courage to ask again..."

"No problem."

Gwen laughed for a while, then nodded and agreed.

After they finished eating, Gwen hurried into the lab. Li Si, who could already tell the rest of his afternoon would be incredibly dull, began planning his own scheme to make a fortune.

First, he needed some materials to make a few simple gadgets.

The materials weren't anything rare—just things like wire that any regular hardware store would sell. But since he wanted to get everything done in one trip, he didn't go out to buy them. Instead, he took the elevator to the Power Department on the 73rd floor.

Oscorp's main business was biomedical science, but it also had plenty of other industries, such as energy.

Although it wasn't well known in the energy industry, Oscorp actually supplied the electricity and power grid for all of New York. And its method of generating electricity was quite unusual: it used giant eels that had been genetically modified with gene technology.

This technology actually belonged to the biology department. The Power Department was responsible only for designing and maintaining the power grid and the company's equipment. Calling it the Power Department wasn't quite as fitting as calling it the Engineering Department.