Liu Jun didn’t understand what this young lady meant and tactfully pointed out: “I have quite a few friends at Shi Yiji, but their survival depends on Shi Yiji’s survival. Although they know in their hearts that my rights were infringed, they may not necessarily take action to seek justice and stop Yang Xun from succeeding. But I still thank you for the note – I’ll keep it as a memento.”

Yu Shanshan had merely been somewhat exaggerated in her speech and animated in her expressions. She hadn’t expected good intentions to receive poor returns and be ruthlessly exposed, making her pretty face flush red. She had been a beauty who conquered all sides since childhood, so naturally, she wouldn’t accept even the slightest grievance. “You haven’t tried – how do you know the masses at Shi Yiji have no sense of justice? Of course, Mr. Yang’s power dominates the city. Your choice to swallow your anger and flee at the first sign of trouble is understandable – you know how to read the situation. But I originally thought you at least had some fighting spirit, that you’d find ways to stop the foreign merchants’ procurement and protect your rights. I misjudged you!”

Liu Jun was already feeling stifled, and it had taken great effort to self-regulate and appear calm on the surface. Being provoked by Yu Shanshan, he became angry. But after glaring for a long while, he ultimately didn’t unleash his vicious tongue on a girl, though he couldn’t help saying: “That car seems to be your Mr. Yang’s. Does he also come to this kind of place to eat?”

Liu Jun spoke seriously, and Yu Shanshan believed him. Looking around, she indeed saw an old Passat parked around the corner that vaguely resembled Yang Xun’s vehicle. From Liu Jun’s position, he could see the license plate. Startled, she instinctively covered her face but worried, peering through her fingers to look around. Fortunately, she didn’t find Yang Xun.

Only then did Liu Jun say: “I just saw more clearly – it doesn’t seem to be your Mr. Yang’s license plate. The streets are full of this type of car now.”

Yu Shanshan’s shock had just settled. She certainly didn’t want to be caught communicating with the enemy by Yang Xun at this critical moment before resigning, having her file held hostage. That peasant didn’t treat others as human – he could think of using her as bait in a honey trap. Such a person was capable of anything. But after Yu Shanshan took a sip of beer and calmed down, she suddenly realized she’d been tricked. She immediately became furious with embarrassment, her willow eyebrows standing on end as she stood up angrily wanting to leave. But wanting to leave yet staying, she had to finish scolding before she went. “Playing with my mind? You’re like a dog biting Lu Dongbin – not recognizing a good person’s heart. Are you happy toying with me? Aren’t you the one who circles Mr. Yang, not daring to face him? If you have guts, solve your problems instead of letting your dad drag his old face around, getting scolded by Mr. Yang like a grandson. Those of us listening nearby all felt sorry for your dad. Where did you go yesterday? You have even less courage than I…”

Liu Jun saw Yu Shanshan getting angry and had already stood up to stop her, preparing to apologize. But hearing Yu Shanshan’s scolding content, anxiety surged in his heart. Seeing Yu Shanshan determined to leave, he became urgent, grabbing Yu Shanshan’s arms and asking anxiously: “My dad went to find Yang Xun? My dad… where… how did they… how did Yang Xun treat my father?”

Yu Shanshan was so startled she immediately shut her mouth, her hands instinctively protecting her chest as she sternly warned: “Liu Jun, you’re not allowed to act like a rogue. Let go immediately.” Seeing Liu Jun withdraw his hands as if burned, putting them behind his back, Yu Shanshan’s anger turned to joy, amused by Liu Jun’s action. She pointed at the chair and commanded: “Sit down, sit down, and I’ll tell you.”

To outsiders, this looked like a pleasing young couple’s quarrel, but only Liu Jun’s heart was full of darkness, approaching the edge of explosion. He hesitated for a moment, got Yu Shanshan’s guarantee that she wouldn’t flee, and obediently sat down to hear how Yu Shanshan happened to overhear Yang Xun’s phone call with Liu Jun’s father. Liu Jun could endure, could think of every method to resolve the humiliation he received from Yang Xun, could even turn a blind eye to economic losses, but he couldn’t tolerate Yang Xun’s insults to his father. Unfortunately, Yu Shanshan had an amazing memory; her little mouth chattering away as she repeated Yang Xun’s words verbatim.

Liu Jun’s jaw muscles involuntarily spasmed, his temples throbbing wildly. He didn’t know his father had gone to find Yang Xun. He had thought Yang Xun was ultimately in the wrong and therefore didn’t dare see them, only engaging in behind-the-scenes conspiracies. So after he withdrew the lawsuit, when his father told him yesterday that the tax bureau had also changed their tune, he thought the matter had ended there. He hadn’t expected this to be the result of his father begging Yang Xun. Compared to his father, what did the humiliation he thought he’d suffered amount to? Especially since his father was enduring Yang Xun’s insults with his weakened body, having just recovered from a minor stroke at the beginning of the year.

At this moment, Liu Jun hated himself.

“Is there more?” Liu Jun bravely asked aloud. Since the facts were rushing at him, he chose to face them.

“That’s all. Your complexion looks terrible. Eat some braised pig’s trotter – it’s getting cold.” Seeing Liu Jun shake his head with a long face, Yu Shanshan said, “That’s right, you should be angry, but anger shouldn’t make you mistreat yourself. Eat quickly – you need to eat your fill to have the strength to be angry.”

Liu Jun couldn’t speak, afraid that speaking would mean exploding. Facing the half pig’s trotter, Yu Shanshan kindly handed him, but he had no appetite, and his mouth wouldn’t obey him. His mouth viciously bit down on a large piece, barely chewing before forcefully swallowing it down. Although the trotter meat was cooked tender and smooth, such a large bite still squeezed his throat painfully. But Liu Jun enjoyed this pain and continued swallowing large bites. Yu Shanshan saw that this was very wrong. Watching Liu Jun finish half a trotter and his eyes targeting the other half, she quickly moved first, pulling the plate into her territory. But seeing Liu Jun miss his grab, his large hand turned and grabbed the beer bottle. She hurriedly reached to snatch it. But Liu Jun was stronger – she couldn’t take it from him, so both held different ends of the bottle in a standoff.

“Don’t drown your sorrows in alcohol – you’re still driving.”

“I’m not. I’m just rinsing my mouth. Don’t worry.”

“Listen, even your voice is trembling now. You’re not in the right state. Listen to me and let go.” Yu Shanshan spoke earnestly but acted ruthlessly, freeing one hand to chop like a knife, knocking Liu Jun’s beer bottle to the ground. She gripped her hand in pain for a long time. The waiter heard the beer bottle fall and came to check. Yu Shanshan immediately asked the waiter to pack up, having the four barely touched dishes packed into two portions, but asked the waiter to put the half trotter in her container. Then she pulled out a hundred-yuan bill to pay. Liu Jun finally reacted, hurriedly offering his own money and blocking Yu Shanshan’s.

The waiter took the money to settle the bill. Liu Jun stared straight at Yu Shanshan and said, “Sorry for disturbing your meal.”

“You’re welcome, you’re welcome. This is a normal reaction. So you didn’t know. If you still acted like nothing happened, you’d either be utterly evil or utterly cowardly.”

“Can girls speak a bit more elegantly?”

“Can’t be elegant – there are too many despicable men in the world. Elegance isn’t safe. Better to be a wild pepper than a pushover. Tell me any close friend’s phone number and I’ll immediately have them come take over. I’m not comfortable with you being alone in this state.”

“Thank you. It’s fine – I experienced this once yesterday. Can’t always trouble friends. Where do you live? I’ll drive you home.”

“Your two eyes are each going their own way without focus. Who dares ride in your car?”

Liu Jun felt dejected, covering his eyes with his hands, hoping that when he removed them, his vision would focus properly. He was furious, his stomach full of rampaging frustration, all his words and actions purely instinctive, barely able to pass through his brain.

Yu Shanshan saw Liu Jun’s pitiful state and couldn’t bear to abandon him. “Hey, Liu Jun, let me tell you a story.” Having said this, Yu Shanshan hiccupped. What story should she tell? It seemed that after leaving kindergarten, her story storage had been discontinued. She couldn’t tell Liu Jun about Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. In her urgency, her own family’s affairs jumped to her lips. “Do you know? This is my parents’ hometown. But before they graduated from university, the country needed them to support frontier construction. From childhood, Dad and Mom held me and my younger brother, reminiscing about how wonderful Jiangnan was and how much food there was. Each time I was so tantalized, I swore I’d test into my parents’ alma mater, then strive for high scores to be assigned to my parents’ hometown as the advance guard, so when my parents retired, they could return to their hometown to enjoy their golden years. Hey, Liu Jun, are you listening?”

“I’m listening. Thank you, Shanshan, thank you for helping me.”

Yu Shanshan blushed all over from being called “Shanshan.” Fortunately, Liu Jun was covering his eyes and didn’t see. She fidgeted alone for a while before continuing: “I’m not happy at Shi Yiji and haven’t earned much money. My parents didn’t point this out. They used the excuse that they’d return to their hometown when old, and my brother would also be assigned here after university graduation, so they gave me money to buy a house, making it convenient to transfer my collective household registration to my own house so I could establish myself here. But my parents’ money doesn’t come easily. The state enterprise isn’t doing well, and they had to support my brother’s and my education, so they don’t have much savings. This money was all saved between their teeth. When I got the money, I cried all night. I thought I was useless – I couldn’t help my parents and still had to take their money. But I still had to use my parents’ money to buy a house, otherwise I’d have nowhere to live after leaving Shi Yiji.”

Liu Jun hadn’t expected Yu Shanshan to tell him these things. Moved, he unconsciously shifted his attention. “Thank you for trusting me and telling me this.”

“It’s not that I trust – you’re worthy of trust. Since graduating from university, I haven’t met many decent people. Often, once we’re slightly familiar, their speech becomes improper. When Mr. Yang sent me to supervise you for so many days, you never forgot me when you had benefits. You’d always remember to share half the steak the boss’s sister sent you, but you never acted inappropriately.”

“I had a girlfriend.”

“Plenty of people with families still act improperly. It’s completely a matter of character. We can go now – you look normal.”

“Wait, where do you plan to work after leaving Shi Yiji?”

Yu Shanshan had been Liu Jun’s spiritual mentor the moment before, but the next moment, she lost her temper. “Job hunting perfectly illustrates Murphy’s Law. I want to find technical work, but companies don’t want me, saying I have no experience and no ready-made results. They don’t want reserve talent. Finally, one company wanted me, but it was to manage technical archives. It turns out trading companies welcome me with open arms – always my most helpless choice, but the one that welcomes me most.”

“I was thinking of finding several assistants recently. The male graduates who meet the professional requirements all refuse to come after hearing about the work and salary. Some even show intentions of using my place as a stepping stone. But I have no choice – I can only offer this kind of salary at this stage. Other companies’ unwillingness to hire inexperienced university graduates also has its reasons – they’re afraid that once trained, people will fly away, and low salaries can’t retain talent. It’s truly a deadlock. Your inability to find suitable work isn’t your fault. Let’s go, I’ll drive you home.”

Yu Shanshan led Liu Jun to get her bicycle and threw it in the trunk. Getting in the car, she kindly reminded: “Everyone says Mr. Yang influences both legitimate and illegitimate circles. You need to be careful of him.”

“I’ve already suffered at his hands. I sued him for infringement, and he immediately retaliated, forcing my dad to go beg him behind my back. I could only withdraw the lawsuit. It just happened yesterday – very internally damaging. This kind of thing…” Liu Jun let out a long breath. “I won’t forget.”

“You can’t be so civilized – this is a world of wolves.”

Liu Jun sighed. This time, he didn’t say anything about not changing his principles because of others’ words and actions. Deep humiliation silenced him. He wondered if, one day later, he could still shout slogans like “I am Liu Jun, I will always be Liu Jun.”

Yu Shanshan’s residence was in a newly completed district that had just been handed over. The entire building was still dark, with few residents having moved in. Occasionally, decoration sounds could be heard in the black night – it was terrifyingly quiet. Liu Jun accompanied Yu Shanshan upstairs, standing at the doorway without entering. After seeing Yu Shanshan enter and turn on the lights to announce all was well, he said goodbye. As soon as Yu Shanshan heard him leave, she immediately closed the door, opened the food container, and devoured the food. She was nearly faint with hunger – she had forced herself not to let her rumbling stomach make noise in the car, which would have ruined her beautiful image. But thinking about how, in her urgency, she had used her own story to distract Liu Jun, she now felt anxious, wondering how Liu Jun, that very capable person, would view someone like her who had accomplished nothing after a year of graduation.

Yu Shanshan was so depressed that she rampaged around the house, muttering endless vows that once she got a new job, she’d work desperately to earn money, to earn big money.

Liu Jun didn’t go home immediately. He circled through streets and alleys until he finally found a hardware store that hadn’t closed yet. He bought a lock and went home, changing it that very night. He was unwilling to endure anymore – he never wanted to see Aunt Fu come to the door again. He also didn’t seek out Qian Hongming to pour out his pain. He just sat alone on the balcony for half the night, facing the city’s myriad lights, plotting despicably.

Liu Jun temporarily set aside his technical work and began learning from his father, carrying a bag on business trips. He first visited his alma mater to see teachers – he had always liked teachers. Coming from his alma mater with addresses given by teachers and schoolmates who had stayed at the university, using the shortcut of a phone call from teachers and classmates, he went door to door to find alumni to demonstrate his patents. His classmates were most helpful, not only arranging food and lodging for him but also helping persuade their superiors to nod approval and strategizing about how to communicate most effectively with key decision-makers. Liu Jun learned from his father. When he first gave benefit fees to classmate-alumni, he would still blush, still hesitate about whether he’d be refused, and didn’t know how to bring it up. After going back and forth, he became skilled, and alumni he’d never met also became his good helpers. He sold his blueprints one by one at prices ranging from fifty thousand to one hundred thousand yuan.

This time, he didn’t feel sorry for his labor’s fruits. He knew that the technologies he sold cheaply would soon be converted to production. The products produced would soon engage in fierce competition with Yang Xun’s high-cost developed products. The result of full competition meant Yang Xun could no longer expect to make big money from high-priced stolen products.

News about Shi Yiji also continuously reached Liu Jun’s ears. The losses Qianjin Factory had suffered at Shi Yiji’s hands, Shi Yiji was now swallowing completely. Almost all domestic trade business was breached. The more decent breaches involved a phone call demanding contract renegotiation and price verification. The less decent ones said nothing, waiting for Shi Yiji to deliver goods to their door, then returning products with countless quality reasons. Without someone like Liu Jun providing on-site supervision, Shi Yiji’s product qualification rate was indeed mediocre, giving ammunition for criticism.

Yang Xun ate these losses without being able to explode. Fortunately, he still had large foreign trade orders. He took charge, urging the sales department to reopen the domestic market. When Liu Jun returned home and settled the bank drafts he brought back against travel expenses, the surplus was already enough to fill the R&D deficit.

But it wasn’t over – Yang Xun should get more.