Knock, knock, knock.
The knocking sound was still ringing out. Everyone's eyes were dead set on the door, but no one moved to open it. The sound finally stopped...
Before they could even breathe a sigh of relief.
The door handle began to turn. Click, the door was pushed open.
There were many people outside.
But everyone subconsciously fixed their gaze on the person at the front. For no other reason than he was simply too good-looking—the kind of stunning beauty appreciated by both East and West.
By comparison, Antonio was also mixed-race and hailed by countless people as a universal heartthrob, but next to this man, he completely paled in comparison. The contrast was as brutal as a premium hardcover versus a cheap pirated copy.
Struck by this extreme beauty, the same thought popped into everyone's mind.
Who is this?
They looked at each other in dismay; no one knew.
At this moment, a cold and even dissatisfied voice suddenly broke the silence: "Come here. Why did it take you so long?"
It was Su Ning.
The handsome young man instantly trotted over. Then, under the crowd's astonished and heartbroken gaze, he knelt on one knee without hesitation. Looking up, his eyes—like jewels and deep lakes—held unmistakable awe and admiration.
If one really had to describe it.
It was like a subject looking up to a supreme king, or an angel entrusting everything to God.
"Master, a slight accident occurred while securing the ships. Although it was quickly resolved, it delayed me for some time. Please forgive my sins."
His voice was as beautiful as he was, but the meaning behind his words shocked everyone.
It wasn't just the major shareholders.
The expressions of the uninvolved shareholders and executives were also indescribably spectacular.
Ah, this, perhaps, seems, a bit...
Sensing these gazes, even someone with skin as thick as Su Ning's couldn't quite bear it. She immediately questioned the system:
"What's going on? Didn't you say this was the most advanced and expensive robot? Where did this European-style pretty boy come from!"
Kneeling down, calling me master.
The system retorted in an even louder voice:
"You're the one who loves being a hands-off boss! Besides setting a mixed-race appearance, you didn't change any other basic settings. According to the default robot code of conduct, they unconditionally obey the tasker... Of course it will call you master."
Then it added gloatingly:
"Hmph, if it weren't the most advanced robot capable of analyzing your behavior based on big data, it wouldn't be calling you master. It would probably be calling you princess, your highness, or something like that."
And then she would suffer a social death.
Su Ning shivered, then keenly realized something was wrong and said faintly:
"So you knew all this, but you didn't remind me?"
"..."
The system went silent.
The person and the system were having their daily bickering, but to outsiders, it looked like Su Er was sincerely begging for forgiveness—for something that couldn't even be considered a fault—while Su Ning showed no reaction, leaving him hanging there, cold to the extreme.
Her cruelty left people clicking their tongues.
Looking at Su Er again... well, it turned out to be a case of one willing to hit and the other willing to be hit.
He actually just waited silently. Let alone showing sadness or dissatisfaction, he hadn't even shifted his posture by a single millimeter. His eyes remained as clear, expectant, and guilty as before.
Seeing this, Antonio beside them suddenly felt a bizarre sense of relief.
It wasn't that he lacked charm.
It was that Su Ning had been spoiled and her tastes had become too refined. That Su Huaishan really took great pains to find someone like this to use as material.
Who knows how much unspeakable training he had endured growing up...
Su Ning, of course, didn't know these thoughts.
Otherwise, she would definitely protest.
Slander.
Pure slander!
It was exactly because he hadn't been trained that he acted like this.
"Get up."
Su Ning finally seemed willing to bestow a glance upon the person on the ground, saying impatiently. Su Er nodded meekly and even broke into a brilliant smile. While the crowd admired it, they also felt frustrated at his subservience.
The next second, this thought vanished.
"So, do you understand now?"
Su Ning scanned the crowd with interest, bending her knuckles to lightly tap the contract.
"The ships have arrived."
Those few words.
Made the major shareholder's face turn as pale as a corpse. He closed his eyes and opened them again, filled with heavy despair, and asked relentlessly, "Where did you buy the ships? Did someone leak the news? Otherwise, it's impossible..."
His voice came to an abrupt halt.
Because Su Ning raised her hand in a stop gesture. He subconsciously shut his mouth, nearly biting his tongue when he realized what he did, feeling endlessly annoyed.
"As long as you have enough money, nothing is impossible except preventing death. If you think it's impossible..." Su Ning spread her hands helplessly:
"Then I can only say you aren't rich enough."
"So, I'm very sorry, but now it's your turn to figure out how to keep your equity from being diluted."
"Take you, for example."
Su Ning subconsciously asked: "According to your share, how much capital are you supposed to inject again?"
"Two million one hundred and forty thousand."
"Two million one hundred and forty thousand pounds."
Two voices rang out at the same time, and the atmosphere somehow became subtle.
Su Ning nodded, not really caring.
At this time, Portugal's official currency was pegged to the British pound, so for large transactions, the more credible pound was often used as the unit.
"Within three days, I hope you can bring out the money on time to inject capital."
Her smile deepened:
"Otherwise, your equity will be diluted a lot."
The major shareholder couldn't help but start trembling.
So much money.
How could he possibly come up with it!
The other companions were in a similar state, calculating how much they needed to pay, and then... despair. It was too much, simply too much.
"Hahahahahaha, I told you long ago, you can't beat her. There really are many ships. We've all lost, all lost. She is the only winner."
Antonio was the first to recover his senses.
Then he laughed loudly.
"What's so funny to you?"
Su Ning gave him a strange look. The others would at most have their equity diluted and be kicked out of the core of Swire Shipping, but they would still be rich. However, him—
"Remember to repay your debt. You are already several days overdue."
The laughter instantly disappeared.
"Ding, detecting that the host is rich and cruel, the level-one plot character Antonio has suffered physical and mental trauma. Reward: five million, and one lottery draw."
Only five million?
And it only drew a x2. Su Ning curled her lips in disgust. It seemed this guy had been squeezed dry. Thinking for a moment, she asked the system to calculate the total harvest.
"Wait a moment."
The system said weakly. It didn't take a genius to know it would definitely be a massive number. Originally, it should be happy; the host's success was the system's success.
But the host was Su Ning...
Sigh.
............
The others were not in a good mood either.
People like the major shareholder naturally looked as if they had lost their parents. Antonio felt even more desperate thinking about that debt. Perhaps he could ask for the ship's deposit back—but with the shrewdness of the Faust family, this money would definitely not be easy to get.
Even if he got it, it would definitely be at a discount.
As for the bystanders.
To say they were happy about having to accept the rule of a young Eastern woman was too much of a stretch, not to mention that Su Ning's personality and temper were so domineering...
They looked at each other.
Hard times were coming.
Only the silent Chrissy had a small curve at the corner of her mouth, silently saying, "Dad, I survived, and I will live very well."
Her eyes curved into a smile.
Like crescent moons.
The system finally finished tallying up the rewards at a snail's pace. It even had the audacity to make excuses, claiming the delay was because Su Ning was so incredibly annoying that a bunch of NPCs had also contributed to the reward pool.
What a load of nonsense.
There was no way Su Ning was going to let that slide. Just as she was about to snap back, she suddenly heard someone forcing a smile and congratulating her on her victory in awkward, broken Chinese.
She shot an impatient glance in that direction.
Surprisingly, it was one of the senior executives from the major shareholder's faction. Well, now this was getting interesting.
