"What's going on?"
Xu Ningbing frowned, listening to the voices coming from the phone.
"A bug," Xu Mu said with a grin. "I planted one in Feng Yue's room."
She stayed and listened quietly beside him.
Inside the bar, Lin Yan sat on the black leather sofa. His sharp eyes instantly spotted the pinhole camera hidden in the wall socket across from him.
"Why did you take the camera apart?" he asked, crossing his legs with a smile.
"That camera was originally for my own security," Feng Yue replied with a seductive smile. "I was afraid someone might sneak in, but I didn't expect the one I installed myself to become the very eye others used to spy on me."
She chuckled softly. "At first, I thought someone had planted something else in the room. I even had the place searched top to bottom — turns out my own camera was the culprit."
Listening from his office, Xu Mu nodded to himself.
Meng Wanyue had mentioned the same thing when they returned — that a camera had been found. He had guessed someone had secretly planted it, but now it turned out to be Feng Yue's own doing.
Just like what had happened at his own villa.
This confirmed it: the one currently spying on him was Lin Yan.
Xu Mu couldn't help but feel lucky — since Feng Yue had just finished searching the room, the bug Meng Wanyue installed was safe, at least for now.
He continued listening.
"No idea who'd be that rude," Lin Yan said with a faint smirk.
"Probably a beast," Feng Yue replied with a laugh, covering her mouth.
"Anyway," Lin Yan's tone turned cold, "enough small talk. Give me the real ratios and production process."
"I'm a patient man with pretty women — hand it over now, and we'll still be friends."
"What do you mean? Didn't Qian Gang give it to you?"
Feng Yue feigned surprise.
"He did," Lin Yan said flatly, "but it was fake. Since he works for you, he wouldn't dare without your permission."
He extended his hand, expression icy.
"I'll say it one more time — give me the real one, and we stay friends."
"Impossible! What would I gain from lying to you?" she snapped. "I get it now — this must be the Xu family's doing! No wonder Qian Gang got the data so easily."
Lin Yan's brow relaxed slightly — that explanation made sense.
Between Feng Yue and the Xu Group, he distrusted the latter more.
Qian Gang had obtained the data too quickly. It didn't add up.
"Hahaha! Miss Feng, looks like we think alike. I also suspect the Xu Group's behind this."
His frosty expression melted into a smile.
"And here I thought you were planning to make a move on me."
"Of course not," Lin Yan chuckled. "Didn't I say I have a lot of tolerance for beautiful women?"
He stood, still smiling.
"That fool Qian Gang really can't handle things. Looks like he needs a proper lesson."
And with that, Lin Yan left the bar.
Xu Ningbing, listening, had also heard the earlier recordings. Feng Yue clearly wanted to monopolize the drug — deliberately giving Lin Yan false information. But what she thought was "real" was fake too.
She glanced sideways at Xu Mu. It was his plan that had turned the tide.
Strangely, she no longer found him as annoying as before.
"I'm leaving," she said softly, turning away.
Xu Mu rested his chin on his hand, thinking.
Now that Lin Yan believed the formula he'd received was fake, he should have some free time…So tonight, Xu Mu would put on a little show — hopefully, Lin Yan would be watching the live feed.
That evening, Xu Mu drove home. In the underground garage, he sent Ye Tong a message, laying out the plan for the night.
Whoever was watching through the cameras could see and hear what happened in the living room — but they couldn't read what was written on his phone.
After Ye Tong confirmed, he got out of the car and headed into the villa.
"You're back," Ye Tong greeted him with her usual gentle smile.
"Yeah," Xu Mu replied, sitting down on the sofa. "Something big happened at the company today — want to hear it?"
"Something big?" she asked, pretending not to know.
"One of our Xu Group senior, Qian Gang, turned traitor. The materials I told you about before — he leaked them."
"What? That can't be true!" Ye Tong gasped. "He's a senior— are you sure?"
"Fake? There's proof." Xu Mu smiled coldly. "He even drugged one of our senior members during dinner last night."
He laid out the story — with slight alterations to make it flow better.
He wasn't really telling Ye Tong; he was telling Lin Yan, who was surely watching through the camera.
He explained that Chen Bei had been forced and blackmailed into handing over the real data — all part of a plan Xu Shou had orchestrated.
Two key people meeting in secret over core company materials? Of course the chairman had prepared surveillance.
Thanks to that bug, they caught the whole conversation.
Chen Bei, wracked with guilt, had confessed everything that afternoon and exposed Qian Gang.
He admitted to betraying the company and offered to face legal punishment — but Xu Shou forgave him for his honesty.
"Do you have a recording?" Ye Tong asked — just as Xu Mu had planned.
Lin Yan was a cautious man. Without evidence, he'd never believe mere words.
"Of course."
Xu Mu turned his phone volume all the way up, playing the part of the recording that captured Feng Yue and Qian Gang's conversation — especially the part where they plotted to deceive Lin Yan.
When it ended, Xu Mu added casually,
"Since the secret's out, my father plans to fast-track the slimming drug's release. We can't let anyone else beat us to market."
Xu Mu's assumption, however, was slightly off.
Lin Yan wasn't personally watching the feed. He was too busy — but one of his subordinates was.
The moment the subordinate heard the conversation, he forwarded the audio and video to Lin Yan.
Lin Yan had been pondering how to obtain the genuine formula when the message arrived.
As soon as he watched it, his face darkened — murderous intent filled his eyes.
He hated betrayal more than anything. In the past, his best brother overseas had died because of it.
And now, Feng Yue had done the same — she did have the real formula, but had fed him lies and pinned the blame on the Xu family.
"That woman… deserves to die!"
Rage boiled within him. Lin Yan, the King of Mercenaries, moved into action — and Feng Yue was about to pay the price.
Moonlight Bar, later that night.
It was the bar's prime hour. Pulsing music shook the floor; the DJ's beats sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Upstairs in her private room, Feng Yue sat alone on the sofa, swirling a glass of red wine under the dim light.
She was celebrating her victory.
In her mind, she could already see the future — becoming a renowned entrepreneur, trampling the Feng family beneath her feet.
Her "father," and those arrogant sons and daughters of his — she'd crush them all.
Crack!
Just then, a sound came from the window.
As she rose to check, a deafening bang followed — the glass exploded into shards.