"Just stop here."
Su Ning ordered. At a distance of about three hundred meters, her car came to a halt as instructed. The sedans, carriages, and rickshaws following closely behind also stopped in turn.
At first, they didn't quite understand her intention.
But once they got out of the vehicles...
Seeing the cold, murderous "guards" standing next to the production line, gulp, they couldn't help but swallow hard. They looked at the sky, the ground, or each other—anywhere but at those guards.
Seeing it in person truly surpassed all rumors.
When their subordinates had reported it earlier, they hadn't paid much attention. To be able to carve a bloody path out of so many covetous rivals, they had to be elites, of course... But these were more than just elites; they were practically killing machines.
"Miss Su's subordinates are quite extraordinary,"
Boss Duan sighed in admiration to Su Ning. He was a man of great experience, yet searching through his memories, he could only find one or two individuals comparable to these men, and they were all ruthless killers.
And right now, there were dozens of such people here!
"The world is treacherous, as you well know. People like us inevitably become prime targets for all sides," Su Ning said, feeling quite satisfied herself, though she managed a rare moment of modesty.
"To protect myself, I simply had to put a bit more effort into this area."
Was this merely a matter of "putting a bit more effort" into it?
Boss Duan smiled bitterly and shook his head. If he could train such a group of men, he would gladly spend half his fortune! With this thought in mind, he probed,
"I wonder if Miss Su might be willing to part with a few? I am willing to trade two storefronts on Qianmen Street for them. Just five men would be enough, just to help me train my own subordinates."
The others, who were a few steps behind and overheard this, were utterly shocked.
They couldn't help it—those were storefronts on Qianmen Street, and two of them at that!
There was an old saying that a good shop could provide for three generations, and the storefronts on Qianmen Street definitely lived up to that. An ordinary family with just one would never have to worry about food or drink, easily qualifying as a moderately wealthy household.
Therefore, unless it was a matter of life and death, absolutely no one would ever sell such properties!
"I apologize."
Su Ning unexpectedly refused, skillfully bringing up Su Huaishan as an excuse: "These men were single-handedly trained by my father when he was alive. He exhausted his heart and soul on them. Before he passed away, he specifically instructed me never to hand them over to anyone else."
Pausing slightly, she added,
"Of course, there are also constraints on them. No matter the circumstances, if their master is no longer me, they will immediately end their own lives rather than be used by another."
"Your respected father cared for you deeply, Miss Su."
Boss Duan said with regret.
However, he didn't feel any dissatisfaction toward Su Ning. In his eyes, this was perfectly reasonable—just an old father's cherish for his only daughter. Women, especially young women, were easily swayed by emotions.
Who knew when she might be swindled out of her entire fortune.
But with these men around, not only would Su Ning's life never be in danger, but even if she fell on hard times, she could rely on them to make a comeback.
"I feel the same way."
Su Ning smiled reservedly, though secretly her heart was twisting in pain. If even Boss Duan praised them so highly, the value of these robots went without saying. She really, really wanted to buy more of them.
Give me a chance, Lord System.
"There will be. There will be robots, there will be everything."
The system said triumphantly.
...
"Follow me."
After saying this, Su Ning walked at the very front. Lin Sen, who was half a step behind, looked as if he wanted to say something but stopped. Did the Miss trust them that much, believing she wouldn't encounter any danger here?
Usually, she would walk surrounded by the crowd...
From a distance, it was merely astonishing. Only upon getting closer did they realize how massive an area this production line covered. It was so colossal that humans appeared incredibly insignificant before it, and everyone's breathing naturally lightened.
Someone's eyes went wide, and he reached out a hand, wanting to touch it.
"Don't move."
Just two simple words.
The man felt he had lost face and was about to get angry, but what accompanied those words was a pitch-black gun barrel aimed directly at his heart.
"Let's talk this out, talk it out calmly. I just won't touch it, that's all."
He said as he backed away.
He didn't breathe a sigh of relief until he saw the gun barrel lowered, only to realize he was breaking out in a cold sweat. Su Ning's attention was drawn by this little interlude, and the leading "man" explained to her:
"The fertilizer production line machinery is very precise. If an inexperienced person touches it haphazardly and knocks off a part, the machine might not be able to start... There is no one here who can repair it."
"I see."
Su Ning nodded in understanding.
The others weren't blind to the situation either. Even the man who had just moved recklessly apologized, promising not to touch anything casually again. Even if one or two had harbored malicious intentions, seeing the glaring, armed guards nearby made them quietly suppress those thoughts.
Forget it, their own lives were more important.
After a rough look around, Su Ning had them lift the covering tarpaulins to see what was underneath.
"Miss Su is too polite."
"Actually, a quick look is fine. We don't really understand these things anyway."
"This has broadened our horizons."
The crowd looked at one another. The smarter ones knew that Su Ning was proving she wasn't fooling them by just dragging in some random junk, covering it with cloth, and passing it off as a production line.
Truth be told, there were quite a few scams like that around.
Hearing the order, those heavily armed guards moved in unison, removing their heavy weapons and masks. Some climbed to the top to untie ropes, while others undid the fastenings at the bottom.
Their movements were neat and efficient.
As the saying goes, there are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's eyes.
During this minor scene of lifting the tarpaulins:
Some saw Su Ning's absolute control over them. She had been back in the country for months, yet these highly skilled subordinates still followed orders to the letter, never uttering a word of dissent.
Some focused on the production line. The lifted tarps revealed the machinery at a glance—precise, brand new, and massive, emitting the cold, hard luster of metal.
Beautiful. It was simply too beautiful.
It was the absolute pinnacle of beauty born from the accumulation of industrial technology!
Only such a machine could produce fertilizer, right...
And there was another small group of people.
Their eyes landed on the faces of these "men." They all looked different. Not only were there Chinese faces, but there were also many foreigners with blond hair and blue eyes, or black hair and blue eyes.
But their common trait was—they were good-looking.
Some possessed delicate and beautiful features, some had a distant and extraordinary elegance, and others looked untamed and imposing... In short, even the worst among them could be considered one in a thousand.
When Miss Su's father was selecting these men, did he... perhaps consider other aspects as well?
System: ...Robots serve humanity, so of course they have to match human aesthetics. The ugly ones are defective products and can't be sold for a good price!
The tarpaulins were finally completely removed.
Beneath the steel behemoth, Su Ning's figure appeared extremely tiny. She was wearing white today. Black and white, large and small, the contrasting identities of a human master and the machines.
Click—
Among the accompanying reporters, someone couldn't resist pressing the shutter.
Su Ning looked toward the sound. The woman who took the photo lowered her camera, not reacting much yet, but her companion beside her gasped in fright. The sharp intake of breath made the photographer take a second look, and anxiety began to rise in her heart.
Was it really that scary?
Lin Sen stepped forward and held out his hand. "Hand over the camera." He frowned and added,
"Which newspaper are you from? Don't you know the rules?"
As for what rules?
The rules set by Su Ning: unless they had her permission, anyone who took unauthorized photos—or worse, published them in the newspaper—would have to bear the consequences.
Up until now.
Not a single newspaper wanted to find out what those consequences were.
"I am with the Peiping Morning Post," she answered the question but had no intention of handing over her camera. She argued her case, "I just started working at the newspaper and I don't know the rules yet. But the lighting and composition just now were excellent. If I had missed that moment, it wouldn't have been as perfect..."
Lin Sen had already lost his patience.
Just as he was about to speak.
"You are quite bold..." Without anyone noticing when, Su Ning had walked over, drawing the gaze of the entire room with her. She looked the female reporter up and down with keen interest.
The atmosphere was like gunpowder, ready to ignite at the slightest spark.
The female reporter was genuinely starting to worry for her safety. She thought bitterly to herself that taking a beating would be one thing, but they absolutely must not smash her camera.
She could never afford to replace it.
Yet, in the very next second, the situation took a sudden turn.
"What is your name?"
"Ye Tang."
Anyone could see that Su Ning was delighted to hear this name. She even repeated the name Ye Tang with a smile before asking,
"Is it the Ye Tang from the poem, 'The leaves of the sweet crabapple remain, as snowy waves float across the central plains'?"
Ye Tang nodded in astonishment.
Her name did indeed come from that line of poetry, but it was incredibly obscure and almost no one knew it. Most people simply assumed her parents liked crabapple blossoms, which was why they used the character Tang.
How could Su Ning have guessed it so accurately?
