Meng Wanyue slipped through the narrow window.
Xu Mu leaned out of the car window, watching — the opening was so small that his tall, 1.85-meter frame definitely wouldn't fit.
Inside, Meng Wanyue quickly confirmed the room was empty.She used her detector to scan and found no active cameras.
However, on the wall facing the sofa, she noticed a removed wall socket — and inside it, a pinhole camera.
She frowned. Had someone secretly installed it before, and Feng Yue later discovered and removed it?Whatever the case, she didn't dwell on it. She swiftly planted a bugging device under the sofa.
Once done, she wiped her footprints away with a cloth from her pack.
"Wanyue."
A sudden voice startled her — Xu Mu's head popped up at the window.
"What the—!"
She cursed under her breath, heart leaping into her throat.
"President Xu, what are you doing up here?"
"Hurry, Feng Yue's already on the stairs!"
He warned quickly — his Perception never withdrew, and he had clearly sensed Feng Yue and Qian Gang entering the bar through the front door.
He had considered calling her, but rushing up himself was faster.
"Got it."
Meng Wanyue stopped worrying about the floor — no one would notice anyway. She wiped the window frame clean and used her tools to re-lock the window from the outside.
She had barely landed back on the ground when the door to the room opened from inside.
Jumping into the driver's seat, she sped away, glancing up at the second-floor window as she asked curiously,
"President Xu, how did you even get up there?"
"I've always been in good shape — climbed, of course."
He grinned.
"Impressive, sir. So where to now?"
"Find a parking spot close to the bar."
"Alright."
She parked at another corner down the street, pulled out her phone, and logged into the cloud system.
From the speaker came Feng Yue's voice.
Xu Mu activated his Perception again — Feng Yue's room sat just within range, allowing him to observe the scene.
"Feng Yue, Lin Yan caught me today," Qian Gang said, slumping on the sofa. "He forced me to hand over the data. I gave him the fake formula you made yesterday."
"He dared do that?" Feng Yue's eyes narrowed, then she chuckled.
"Next time he tries that, call the police."
"You came running here in such a hurry — what's the matter?" she asked.
"Word is Xu Group's new drug has passed approval. They're preparing for launch. If they go public first, we'll be infringing their patent."
"Relax," Feng Yue said coolly. "You think I've been sitting idle? In Jiang City I can't match the Xu Group, but in Yang City, it's another story. I've already made arrangements with the local regulators. If all goes well, production will start in a few days."
"So soon?" Qian Gang asked, shocked.
"I registered it as a health supplement," she explained. "The Xu Group's product is a pharmaceutical, totally different review standards and speed."
She gave him a confident smile.
"Lay low for now. Once our slimming pill hits the market, it'll stir up all of Dragon Nation — maybe even the world."
Listening from the car, Xu Mu shook his head slightly. Feng Yue was in for disappointment.
Because the recording uploaded to the cloud was accessible from anywhere — he could monitor her from his phone, even at home. The only thing he couldn't do remotely was see inside.
As Meng Wanyue had mentioned, the bug would last about ten days — more than enough.
They returned to the office, and Xu Mu spent the rest of the day doing nothing but listening to Feng Yue's room.
He expected Lin Yan to discover soon enough that the drug formula from Qian Gang was fake.
3:00 PM — Fengwei Foods Factory, R&D Department
Lin Yan and Li Feipeng stood grim-faced.
"How are those five test subjects?" Lin Yan asked coldly.
"Mr. Lin, they're still… having diarrhea," Li Feipeng said grimly. "One of them nearly passed out from dehydration."
"President Li!" snapped a middle-aged man in a lab coat and glasses.
"We may be food specialists, but give us the ingredients, ratios, and procedure, and we can make anything. I even made multiple batches — no way they all failed by coincidence."
"It's not your team's fault," Lin Yan said icily. "The problem lies in the process itself."
"What? You mean Qian Gang deceived us?" Li Feipeng gasped.Good thing he had listened to Lin Yan earlier and hadn't gone into mass production; otherwise, they'd be ruined.
"Either Qian Gang tricked us," Lin Yan said, narrowing his eyes, "or the Xu Group gave him fake data."
His gaze turned sharp.
"I'll go find Feng Yue."
Back at the Xu Group, Xu Mu was still monitoring. Qian Gang had already left, and Feng Yue's room had gone silent — until a knock came at his own office door.
"Come in," he called.
The door opened — and instead of Meng Wanyue, it was Xu Ningbing, in her crisp uniform, cold and composed.
She pushed up her glasses and walked in.
"Sis? What brings you here?" Xu Mu asked, surprised.
Inwardly, she was fuming. These past days, aside from the company's slimming-drug mess, one other thing had been bothering her — becoming a martial artist.
Xu Mu had promised to show her what Heavenly Treasures looked like, yet still hadn't. Knowing only the names and finding nothing online left her stuck.
"Ahem! Did you forget something?" she asked, stopping at his desk.
"Forget what?"
"You said you'd draw me the Heavenly Treasures."
"Ah—right. Been busy with company stuff. I'll do it now."
He grabbed an A4 sheet.
"Let me draw it," she said. "I've taken sketching before — what if you draw it wrong?"
"Relax. I know a thing or two about art."
He picked up a black pen casually.
Her eyes widened.
"By the way," he asked with a grin, "am I handsome?"
"You… are. Very." she gritted out.
"And am I good to you?" he continued while drawing.
For a moment, Xu Ningbing was dazed.
Her brother was powerful — she knew that. But he had always hidden his strength, letting her win. If he could make even their father Xu Shou a martial artist, then he himself surely was one.
He'd been holding back all along.
And that realization… touched her.
[Favorability +10]
"Yes," she said quietly. "You've been very good to me."
By then, Xu Mu had already finished three botanical drawings, complete with color notes and characteristics.
Xu Ningbing stared, stunned — with an ordinary signature pen, he had produced lifelike, photographic sketches.
Just what kind of being is my brother…?
At that moment, a woman's voice came from Xu Mu's phone:
"Why are you here?"
Followed by a man's voice:
"I missed you — came to see you."
Xu Mu smiled faintly. Lin Yan and Feng Yue had finally met.