Gwen's Date

"Such a scumbag; it would be a crime against heaven not to fleece him... My first pot of gold will depend on you."

Watching Li Ritian being held up by security guards preparing to toss him out, Lee Stein walked over with a beaming smile.

However, he wasn't looking for Li Ritian; instead, he whispered a few words into the ears of the two burly guards, then pulled out several banknotes and tucked them into the breast pockets of their uniforms with a grin.

"Heh heh, small matter. Don't worry, brother, leave it to us."

Glancing at the amount of cash in their pockets, both guards laughed in unison and hauled Li Ritian toward the exit.

Li Ritian, having heard Lee Stein's earlier remark, turned green in the face. Shaking with rage, he spat, "You... I have no grudge against you, why are you harming me? You just wait."

"I will be waiting for you."

Lee Stein's smile grew even brighter; seeing this scumbag get thwarted was even more satisfying than downing a can of ice-cold soda.

"Good morning, Mr. Stein. It seems we shall be colleagues from now on."

The white woman at the reception desk finally let out a sigh of relief after seeing the troublemaker dragged away, and she greeted Lee Stein with a smile.

"And many thanks for your well-wishes, miss."

Lee Stein replied politely before heading toward the Cross-Species Genetics Department.

Upon arriving at the Cross-Species Genetics Department, Lee Stein did not enter the laboratory, but instead found his seat in the surrounding office area.

His position was merely that of an assistant to Dr. Connors—with the title of "intern" tacked on for good measure—so he was not allowed into the lab unless absolutely necessary. The work he was actually assigned was nothing more than menial labor.

It was essentially the same as a clerk's job: sitting at a desk facing a computer to process miscellaneous tasks, tallying and comparing experimental data for the researchers, and performing basic cleanup after experiments.

However, he was happy to be idle; this kind of leisurely desk job was something others would kill for. Furthermore, it gave him the perfect opportunity to study the artificial intelligence at Oscorp up close. Even if he couldn't access the core code, learning the architecture of the surface framework was still a gain.

Just like that, he coasted along, occasionally chatting with Gwen nearby, and the morning passed by in a flash.

"Beautiful lady, might I have the honor of inviting you to lunch?"

At noon, Lee Stein walked up to Gwen's desk with a beaming smile, bowing with a hand over his chest in a display of perfect gentlemanly manners.

This gesture immediately drew jeers and catcalls from the people at the surrounding desks, with "oohs" and "aahs" echoing one after another.

"..."

Gwen first glared at Lee Stein with annoyance, but then her face blossomed into a smile as she said, "Of course, but I get to choose the location."

"I see a deep, dark malice in your smile. I only hope I won't be detained by the owner to wash dishes!"

Looking at Gwen's expression, Lee Stein felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding, but he shrugged and laughed anyway.

However, he stopped laughing soon after arriving at the location Gwen had chosen.

Lee Stein stared blankly, turning to Gwen and saying, "Gwen... is this the date spot you prepared? I have to say, this is truly terrible."

The location Gwen had referred to was none other than the Oscorp employee cafeteria.

"You said 'have lunch together,' not 'go on a date,' right?"

A playful smile appeared on Gwen's face as she looked at Lee Stein with a grin.

"..."

Looking at the sea of people all around, Lee Stein was completely speechless, though he refused to lose face, shrugging nonchalantly:

"Fine, you've already learned how to save money for me. I suppose I should be happy."

"Happy?"

Gwen paused for a moment, then grasped the meaning behind Lee Stein's words and shot him a fierce glare: "I have to say, you really are thick-skinned."

"Thank you for the compliment!"

Lee Stein chuckled and found an empty table, saying, "Sit down, miss, I'll go get the food!"

With that, he found a serving window with a shorter line and began to wait.

It was only "shorter" in relative terms; with nearly ten thousand employees in the 108-story Oscorp Tower, even with multiple cafeterias, every single one was packed to the brim.

After waiting for a full ten minutes, Lee Stein finally squeezed out of the crowd with two trays of food.

"This is a far cry from the lunch I envisioned. You should know I've been fasting since morning, preparing to feast!"

With a helpless look on his face, Lee Stein sat down across from Gwen.

The food at Oscorp was actually quite good—meat, vegetables, dessert, and drinks included—but it was far too different from the date scenario he had imagined.

"Sorry."

Gwen said apologetically, "Actually, the doctor asked me on short notice to act as his lab assistant after lunch, so..."

"Fine, fine. This offsets the rare bit of goodwill I had managed to build up for the doctor."

Lee Stein said through gritted teeth.

Seeing Lee Stein like this, Gwen covered her mouth and giggled: "Perhaps you could consider saving our big feast for next time?"

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

Lee Stein lamented, "Gwen, this is the third time. You are crushing the self-confidence of a genius scientist. I'm not even sure I'll be able to muster the courage to ask again..."

"No problem."

Gwen laughed for a while before nodding in agreement.

After the two finished their meal, Gwen hurried into the laboratory, while Li Si, already sensing that the entire afternoon ahead would be incredibly boring, began to prepare his grand plan for making a fortune.

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

The materials required were nothing rare, just things like wires that could be bought at any ordinary hardware store, but considering he wanted to get everything done at once, he didn't go out to buy them, instead taking the elevator to the Power Department on the 73rd floor.

Oscorp's primary industry was biomedicine, but it had many other types of businesses as well, such as energy.

Although it didn't have a prominent reputation in the energy sector, in reality, the entire power grid and electricity supply for New York were provided by Oscorp, and the method of power generation was quite unique, relying on large electric eels modified through genetic technology.

This technology actually belonged to the Biology Department; the Power Department's responsibilities were merely to design and maintain the power grid and the company's internal equipment, so calling it the Engineering Department would actually be more fitting than calling it the Power Department.