Ye Tong looked toward the thin, suited old man with deep smile lines carved into his face; her eyes lit up.
"Uncle Wang?"
"Miss Ye? You're here too?"
Wang Weiliang hurried forward at once.
Ye Tong's eyes reddened, tears suddenly welling up. "I never thought I'd see you here."
"Hehe, let's not stand around reminiscing. Sit, all of you."
Xu Shou smiled from his seat on the sofa.
Xu Mu gently patted Ye Tong's back.
She nodded lightly, pulling Ye Yu to sit beside her.
"Xiao Tong, Old Wang… You two probably don't know all the details, so I'll make it short," Xu Shou began, leaning back into the sofa. He then roughly explained his past relationship with the Ye family and what he had done in recent years.
Xu Mu sat beside Ye Tong, listening carefully.
He hadn't known any of this before — after all, the novel's plot had been written entirely from the Dragon King's point of view.
After Xu Shou's explanation, everyone present — including Xu Mu himself — finally understood what had happened.
Back when Xu Shou had first started his business, he'd run into a crisis.
Decades ago, at a business gathering, he had by chance met the father of the Ye family's patriarch — that is, Ye Tong and Ye Yu's grandfather.
Although Elder Ye hadn't personally invested in Xu Shou, he had introduced him to several accomplished businessmen.
With their help, Xu Shou had managed to pull through the crisis.
He had never forgotten that debt of gratitude.
Years later, when the Ye family fell into hardship and Ye Tong came to seek his aid, he didn't hesitate to help — investing a large amount of money.
Unfortunately, the Ye family's recovery failed, and the patriarch went missing.
From that, Xu Shou deduced that their downfall wasn't due to business troubles but because they had offended some powerful figure.
So he secretly brought Ye Tong and Ye Yu away first, and later proposed that Ye Tong marry Xu Mu.
That way, she would officially become part of the Xu family, cutting all ties with the Ye family.
He then spent even more money to gather the Ye family's pharmaceutical experts and form a branch company.
The pharmaceutical field, when successful, was extremely lucrative. For the past two years, Xu Shou had kept pouring in funds, having them focus on developing a single drug.
It was, in essence, a gamble — and judging by results, he had bet right.
Everyone who listened to Xu Shou's story couldn't help but admire him.
As expected of a self-made man — to achieve what he had by fifty took extraordinary courage and vision.
Even Xu Ningbing, his daughter, was deeply impressed.
The Ye family's pharmaceutical failure had already cost her father a fortune.
If it had been her, she would have stayed far away from that industry for a long time.
But Xu Shou still dared to invest again.
"Dad, weren't you afraid you'd lose your shirt over it?" Xu Mu said with a grin.
"When a traditional industry starts declining, it's hard to turn around — unless you can create something new. But what's new in a traditional industry?" Xu Shou replied, glancing at Xu Mu. "Technology burns money even faster, and I don't have anyone trustworthy enough for that. Old Wang here is a medical expert — I trust him."
"Thank you for your confidence, Chairman," Wang Weiliang said respectfully. "And to see the young ladies so well protected… if I'd known things would turn out this way, I'd have worked even harder."
"Hehe, let's get down to business," Xu Shou said, turning toward the middle-aged man seated beside Wang Weiliang. "Old Chen, you probably know why I called you here today, don't you?"
Xu Mu looked at the slightly heavyset man — he recognized him: Chen Bei, one of the original partners who'd helped Xu Shou build his company from the ground up.
"I do," Chen Bei said gravely. "The raw materials for our weight-loss drug suddenly spiked in price — someone leaked information."
"Who do you think it is?" Xu Shou asked.
"I can't say. Only our core members even know the formula." Chen Bei shook his head. "I really can't understand — you're not a stingy man, Chairman. Why would anyone betray you?"
"There's one force that's often underestimated — the power of beauty," Xu Shou said with a smile. "Since ancient times, there's been the saying 'kingdoms and beauties.' Anything that can rival a kingdom's worth of power shouldn't be taken lightly."
"You mean the traitor leaked the information because of a woman?" Chen Bei asked in surprise.
Xu Shou didn't answer directly — instead, he took out his phone and played the recording Xu Mu had sent him.
Sitting beside him, Ye Tong stole a glance at Xu Mu.
She remembered how, over dinner the other night, Xu Mu had specifically asked Meng Wanyue for a bugging device — so that's what it was for.
When the recording finished, Chen Bei's expression darkened more and more.
"Damn it! It's Qian Gang! For the sake of a woman, he handed over all our hard work!"
He slammed his fist against the sofa. "He knew he was being played — and still went along with it!"
"Now that you all know the situation," Xu Shou said calmly, "let's talk about solutions. Old Chen, Qian Gang's afraid of exposure, so he'll keep digging — and his breakthrough point will be you."
"I figured," Chen Bei nodded. "He's not close to Mr. Wang, but he and I go back decades."
"When he approaches you, don't agree right away — that'd be too suspicious. Wait until he offers something in return, then feed him a false formula and fabrication method," Xu Shou instructed. "Since they dared to play dirty, we'll repay them in kind — bankrupt them if we can."
"Understood, Chairman." Chen Bei nodded firmly.
"Chairman, if I may," Wang Weiliang suddenly interjected.
Everyone turned to him, waiting for what he had to say.
"This plan won't be easy," he explained. "Anyone in the industry knows — before mass production, every company runs lab trials. Once they get that false formula, they'll run low-cost test batches. If it doesn't work, they'll know before committing."
Xu Shou and Xu Ningbing both frowned.
True — they hadn't considered that.
Of course the rival company wouldn't blindly throw money into full-scale production before verifying results.
Xu Shou rubbed the corner of his eye, then looked over at Xu Mu with a smile. "Kid, got any ideas?"
That question shocked everyone.
Especially Xu Ningbing — whenever she was present, her father would normally ask her first. He'd never sought Xu Mu's opinion.
And today, he had.
That role reversal made her feel a faint pang of jealousy.
Chen Bei and Wang Weiliang were equally surprised.
Chen Bei, in particular — he'd practically watched Xu Mu grow up, always thinking the boy was destined to be a pampered wastrel.
Now the Chairman was actively asking for his input? The sun must have risen in the west.
"The ideal scenario," Xu Mu said, crossing one leg over the other with a grin, "is to give them a drug that works short-term… but fails long-term."
"Easier said than done," Wang Weiliang frowned. "We can't just pour money into deliberately developing an unstable drug, can we?"
"Mr. Wang," Xu Mu said calmly, "if possible, could you share the current ratio and production process with me?"
Wang glanced toward Xu Shou.
The old man was the final authority — if he agreed, then it was settled.
Chen Bei's mouth opened as if to protest, but he held it in.
In his mind, it was a terrible idea — Xu Mu was still too naïve, far too easily manipulated.
One sweet-talking woman could probably make him spill every secret they had.
"Dad, I object!" Xu Ningbing said coldly from the side.