Su Ning raised an eyebrow.
“What a coincidence?”
Then she remembered. An orphan who had wandered to Beiping—those two labels seemed to fit Lin Sen perfectly. Although the original novel had never said so, it was only reasonable for the “protagonist” to possess an impressive but unknown background.
If he didn’t, that would be the real plot twist.
If Lin Sen really was the Huo family’s true young master…
Su Ning began to seriously consider the possibility.
There were pros and cons.
The advantage was that it would be easier for her to strike at Huo Xiang.
The disadvantage was that if Lin Sen went off to be the true young master, wouldn’t she lose a capable subordinate? Robots were useful, but handing things over to them was troublesome, and in some respects, they still weren’t as good as Lin Sen.
Just as she was wavering—
Assistant Lin looked at the photograph in his hand. The facial features and expression were remarkably lifelike and clear. It had only taken less than a day…
He lowered his eyes, hiding the emotions in them.
His tone was calm.
“Yes. Not only do I know him, but we should be considered childhood companions. That’s why I recognized him at a glance.”
You’re not him…
Su Ning felt a little disappointed.
Then she comforted herself. This was even better. She wouldn’t have to lose Lin Sen, and with their childhood friendship, getting the “true young master” to work for her shouldn’t be difficult either.
So she casually asked about the “true young master.”
“He’s already dead.”
Su Ning: “…What?”
What did he mean? Was he messing with her?
“Ergou… that is, the Huo family’s young master, wasn’t very healthy from childhood. He was smart, but he couldn’t compete with the others for food. By the time he finally grew up and everyone could scrape together enough food to survive, his health still couldn’t recover. Then a bout of cold took his life.”
Lin Sen sounded somewhat nostalgic and regretful.
In reality, within that bandit gang, he and Ergou had both served as something like strategists. But fate had played its hand. Lin Sen had met Miss Su, while Ergou, despite having such an impressive background, had died young from illness.
“He really died?” Su Ning asked unwillingly.
“He really did,” Lin Sen replied. “Back then, we came up with the idea of pretending to be police officers and stopping vehicles because we wanted to collect enough money to buy him a coffin. We’d originally planned to stop after buying it, but the money came too easily. We got greedy and wanted to do a few more jobs…”
Su Ning already knew what happened after that.
Her heart hurt even more.
What? They had missed each other by that little?
If she calculated correctly, she should already have arrived in Republican-era China at the time, chewing on flatbread and barely scraping by.
The most painful thing wasn’t losing something.
It was knowing that you could have had it.
“Ergou may be dead, but he left behind two children—a son and a daughter,” Lin Sen continued.
As soon as he finished speaking, he keenly noticed that although the woman before him showed no change in expression, the mood radiating from her had become noticeably brighter. A hint of amusement flashed through his eyes before vanishing in an instant.
“Both children are very healthy.”
“The children’s mother also grew up with us. Oh, and Miss Su, please forgive me. I let my personal feelings get in the way and arranged for her to work at one of your businesses. Her treatment is far too generous.”
With every sentence he spoke, Su Ning’s mood improved.
“There’s no need to ask forgiveness. Taking care of the orphaned children and widowed mother left behind by a friend is only right.” Suddenly, her tone changed, and she looked worried. “But the children are so young. They can’t be without a father… How about this? Lin Sen, why don’t you help all the way?”
The children were indeed members of the Huo family’s bloodline.
But they were too young.
Old Master Huo was already advanced in age. Even with her help, he might not be able to defeat Huo Xiang, let alone without her having any legitimate standing in the matter.
The smile on Lin Sen’s face froze.
Thinking he had misunderstood her, he raised his eyes…
Su Ning was looking at him encouragingly.
He hadn’t misunderstood.
Steadying himself, he said, “I’m sorry, but I have no plans to marry at present. The children’s mother probably doesn’t either.”
“I never said you had to make it real.”
Su Ning frowned. Honestly, did he really think she was the kind of person who would force her subordinates into marriage and recklessly matchmake them just to achieve her goals?
The System: …
It said nothing.
It merely turned up the volume of the reward announcement considerably, as a reminder.
“Ding! The host has been detected acting heartlessly despite her wealth. Level-one plot character Lin Sen…”
Su Ning: …
At that moment, someone knocked on the door.
Su Er entered, breaking the silence. He glanced around and smiled.
“Looks like I came at a bad time.”
Su Ning almost blurted out, No, you came at exactly the right time.
No, she couldn’t break character!
“Speak.”
Su Er’s smile deepened as he handed over a file.
“The takeover, classification, screening, and restructuring of the various businesses are nearly complete. The detailed information is all here.”
“The most important matter is the construction of the white-feathered chicken farms. At the initial stage, it’s crucial to train skilled workers who meet the standards. So I reached an agreement with the Chinese community and had them begin by raising small numbers of chickens. They can familiarize themselves with the chickens’ habits while constructing the farm facilities and preparing the necessary equipment and medicines. Once formal breeding begins, everything will proceed naturally.”
As the saying went, those who followed the right path would receive abundant support, while those who went against it would find themselves abandoned.
In America, Su Ning was ultimately an outsider.
It was therefore essential for her to win over the established Chinese community and turn it into a source of strength.
Fortunately, she already had a foundation thanks to the extras from the previous film production. Deepening their cooperation was easy. Su Ning would gain reliable workers for raising chickens, who could also be of great use at critical moments.
As for the Chinese community—
During the Great Depression, they had obtained steady, long-term work that could support their families.
Both sides benefited from the arrangement.
Su Ning listened while nodding.
Seeing this, Su Er’s breathtaking face suddenly took on a worried expression.
“Everything was going well, but I suddenly discovered that a small number of white-feathered chickens are already being sold on the market. After looking into it, I found out that they came from… Southeast Asia.”
“I don’t understand what’s going on.”
“Perhaps Assistant Lin knows?”
As he spoke, he looked toward Lin Sen.
Lin Sen: …
Before Lin Sen could say anything, Su Ning spoke first.
“I know about this. Don’t worry about it.”
So Huo Xiang was raising white-feathered chickens too?
She was more than happy to see it.
The more he raised, the better—
He’d never be able to survive the losses!
“It was like that?” Su Er said with a smile and nodded. “That’s good, then.”
Lin Sen was smiling too.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became rather subtle.
Su Ning said, “Still, we can’t simply ignore it. Send them a letter asking for an explanation. Remind them that no one will object if they raise a small number, but without the necessary technology, they absolutely must not begin large-scale breeding.”
Repaying hostility with kindness.
Who could possibly say she wasn’t a good person?
“Yes.”
Su Ning turned to Lin Sen.
“As for you, from this moment on, you are the Huo family’s true young master, Ergou, who was separated from his family and raised outside from childhood!”
…………
“Master, a letter from Miss Su.”
Old Master Huo did not particularly want to read it. He suspected it was about the white-feathered chickens.
Disliking Huo Xiang was one thing.
But the white-feathered chickens…
The profits contained within them were simply too great. They provided cheap meat with an excellent flavor, completely capable of crushing every similar product on the market.
The Huo family might very well use them to rise to an even higher level.
“Forget it. Bring it here.”
Su Ning had immense power, and it would be unwise to offend her too badly. Old Master Huo decided to see what the letter said. He could always reply that he was old, lacking in energy, and unable to control Huo Xiang…
As he thought this, his eyes fell upon the unfolded letter.
Then he could no longer look away.
One second later, a earth-shaking howl rang out:
“Heaven has eyes!”
