The Creator's Grace - Chapter 14

There were simply too many vehicles in the through lane, and the green light cycles were short. After an entire green light had passed, Lu Siqiong’s car still hadn’t made it through the intersection.

Lu Siqiong held the steering wheel with one hand and turned back to look at Ran Jin again. She saw that Ran Jin was still blinking uncomfortably; the eye drops she had helped her apply earlier had turned into faint tear streaks.

“Are those things more uncomfortable than contact lenses?” Lu Siqiong asked. “Do you want me to help you with a few more drops?”

“No need.” Ran Jin closed her eyes. “I just need to rest a bit.”

In truth, when Lu Siqiong leaned over to help her with the eye drops earlier, she felt the distance was a bit too close. When Lu Siqiong wasn’t on duty, the scent of her perfume was so sweet it made Ran Jin’s brain throb. Ran Jin had already sneezed several times, and her nose felt miserable.

If it weren’t for her hangover from last night, her hands wouldn’t be shaking so much that she’d splashed eye drops all over her face. She wouldn’t have troubled Lu Siqiong over such a small matter.

Lu Siqiong propped her head up and looked at her askance. “How did you end up drinking? And drinking until you got drunk. Usually, you even wrinkle your nose at the slight scent of wine in Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.”

Ran Jin smiled but didn’t answer.

“Sigh, am I stupid for asking that? You came out of the Chi house this morning; anyone thinking with their knees would know what you went there for last night. It wasn’t Chi Yu who forced the alcohol on you, was it? Honestly, you clearly know she suspects you right now, yet you’re completely defenseless against her. That’s not like your style at all. What kind of spell did she cast on you to make you so good to her?”

Ran Jin raised her eyes, and Lu Siqiong thought she was going to argue, but she simply said airily:

“The light is green.”

Lu Siqiong: “…”

A frustrated driver behind them let out a sharp “honk,” causing Lu Siqiong’s temper to flare instantly. She quirked her lip impatiently, cursed under her breath, and hit the accelerator.

Arriving at the building, Ran Jin said to Lu Siqiong before getting out, “Thank you for the ride.”

Lu Siqiong put on a forced smile. “Don’t mention it. Just serving the people.”

“I’ll treat you to dinner tonight.”

“I’ll take the thought,” Lu Siqiong said. “My boyfriend finally managed to visit; I can’t stand him up again. Another day. If you have the time, go back and get some sleep—that’s better than anything else.”

Ran Jin nodded and pushed the car door open.

“Look at that perfunctory attitude of yours.” Lu Siqiong sighed loudly behind her. “It seems ever since I met you, you’ve been like this. Don’t you realize how Chi Li treated you or what the Chi family takes you for? Sometimes I really feel like you don’t treat yourself as a person.”

Ran Jin didn’t stop her exit. She closed the door, but her opening remark was on a different subject: “Hong Yiling has disappeared. I’ve already sent people to find her. I know you’re not on the task force anymore and shouldn’t touch this case, but if there’s any news of her death, please let me know.”

“Tsk.” Lu Siqiong had no temper left. “If she dies, that little brat will definitely be the first one to come looking for you to cause trouble. Why would you even need me?”

Ran Jin knew the “little brat” Lu Siqiong referred to was Chi Yu; Lu Siqiong had no good feelings toward the Chi family.

“If it weren’t for you saving my life once, I wouldn’t bother with your business.”

Lu Siqiong dropped those words before driving off.

No matter what Lu Siqiong said, Ran Jin accepted it all with a smile. She knew Lu Siqiong was the only person left in this world who truly cared about her and nagged her with sincere intentions.

“Drive safely.” Faced with Lu Siqiong’s barrage of complaints, Ran Jin responded gently.

Lu Siqiong: “…”

She really was a lost cause.

“You’re the one who needs to be careful,” Lu Siqiong couldn’t help but add one last instruction. “I don’t know the reason, but you’ve already decided to do this, so I have nothing more to say. I’ll only say one thing: that little brat’s methods might not be much gentler than her sister’s. Be prepared.”

“Mhm.” Ran Jin nodded.

Walking into the building and greeting the employees she passed, Ran Jin stepped into the private elevator that went straight to the 18th floor.

As the elevator doors closed, Ran Jin switched the digital screen from “Iris Scan Mode” to “Face Scan Mode.”

“Scan complete. Good morning, Ran Jin.” The electronic voice gave a cold greeting and began reporting the day’s weather.

“Today will be cloudy turning to light rain, with a high of nine degrees…”

On the digital screen, the simulated sky over the city was covered in dense clouds. Ran Jin’s eyes didn’t move as her thoughts drifted back to yesterday.

She had indeed been a bit careless. When Chi Yu asked her to drink with her, she did. She should have stopped after the first glass; one glass wouldn’t have made her drunk.

But…

When Chi Yu looked at her with those sorrowful eyes, her body moved of its own accord. She had no way to resist any of Chi Yu’s demands, let alone a plea.

Ran Jin let out a troubled sigh. This couldn’t happen next time; she had to learn how to properly refuse Chi Yu.

Suddenly, a blurred scene flashed through her mind—it seemed to be from last night’s dream. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the alcohol or the fact that she’d been drinking with Chi Yu, but it seemed she had dreamed of Chi Yu last night.

She dreamed that Chi Yu was very close, within reach, stroking her neck…

Thinking of this fragment, Ran Jin’s body tensed, and she instinctively raised a hand to touch her throat. The dream was so vivid; she remembered feeling very hot, and after being touched by Chi Yu, her skin became scorching.

Besides that, she also dreamed that Chi Yu had helped her upstairs and led her to the bedroom door.

And then?

Ran Jin thought back; there seemed to be another segment.

Right…

Chi Yu had re-fastened the shirt button that had come undone at some point.

Wait.

Ran Jin’s heart jolted.

It wasn’t a dream. It actually happened.

Ding. The elevator reached the 18th floor and the doors opened.

“Good morning, President Ran!”

Employees passing by greeted her.

“Morning.” Ran Jin adjusted her state of mind and put on her professional smile.

Xiao Yang from the Planning Department passed by. After greeting Ran Jin, she looked curiously at her ears. “President Ran, is it very cold outside?”

Ran Jin was a bit confused. “It’s alright.”

“Your ears are all red from the wind.”

Ran Jin: “…It is quite cold.”

After Chi Li’s funeral ended, the Chi Group aggressively pushed forward its quest for the lunar new energy mining rights.

Chi Yu used her sister’s authorization to log into the Chi Group’s internal system and reviewed the entire bidding process for the lunar orbit. Ran Jin had purchased the rights for three lunar orbits; it was clear victory was in her grasp.

Originally, Yidai Technology was a competitor, but after failing to secure a lunar orbit, they had already begun filing for bankruptcy protection. Ran Jin had a sharp eye and her moves were precise and steady. Under her leadership, the Chi Group had transitioned smoothly from the turmoil of Chi Li’s sudden passing to its current stability.

She had handled the board of directors well, and the employees were grateful to her for saving the Chi Group and their livelihoods. As she was about to announce the acquisition of the lunar mining rights, capital from around the industry—having caught wind of the news—began to gravitate toward her.

She was also very popular online, even having her own dedicated “Super Topic” fan page.

Chi Yu had checked her Super Topic and remembered that a few years ago, Ran Jin had appeared in a major Hollywood IP series as the second female lead. That beautiful face and unexpected acting skills had swept across the globe, giving her a foothold in the entertainment world and earning her widespread public favor.

She was indeed someone with acting skills.

Chi Yu scanned through all the videos related to her. In the videos, she was humble, polite, and appeared to be a young, accomplished woman with an undeniable aura of brilliance.

Reclaiming the Chi Group from her hands would not be an easy task.

Chi Yu combed through Ran Jin’s stock holdings over the years and the companies dependent on her. It was clear she had begun planning long ago to ascend to this unshakeable throne. In the energy industry, no one was her match anymore.

To pull her down, Chi Yu needed to prune the massive root system she had personally nurtured. Others couldn’t do it, but Chi Yu could. And only she could.

To sweep her out of the Chi Group, the best method was to make her stumble heavily over the lunar mining rights, but without actually causing fundamental damage to the Chi Group itself.

Blockading the lunar orbit was the best strategy.

Blockading the Chi Group’s lunar orbit was impossible for anyone else, but for Chi Yu, it was the very field she had studied for years.

Since last year, Chi Yu had been interning at FPIU, the leading company that had deep-seated roots in lunar orbits for years. Although Chi Yu was an intern in name, two months ago, her orbital structure model achieved a breakthrough in precision within the simulator, drawing intense attention from the entire lunar orbit community.

Now, she was the most high-profile rising star in the lunar orbit field. Her internship would end in a month, after which she would officially sign on as a member of the company.

She knew exactly how to lock down a lunar orbit.

By using the authorization of the Chi Group’s Chairperson to apply for a verification of the navigation route’s precision, the audit time could be delayed for up to three months. During these three months, no ships could travel the route.

Chi Yu could even kick her while she was down during the audit period. As long as she published the latest lunar orbit precision values during the calculation period, the benchmark values would be corrected, allowing her to apply for another three months of verification.

Six months would be enough to break Ran Jin. She could take the opportunity to gain the support of the board and minimize the Chi Group’s losses.

But…

Chi Yu tried to use her sister’s account to log into the lunar orbit project system, only to find that the account no longer had authorization; she couldn’t view anything at all. Likely, Ran Jin had prepared long ago, and all authorizations were now under her own account.

Chi Yu summarized the current situation.

Ran Jin had spent a fortune on the lunar orbits. If she could blockade them, she would have the chance to drive Ran Jin out of the Chi Group and make her spit out everything that didn’t belong to her.

And right now, the only way to blockade the lunar orbit was to steal Ran Jin’s account.

Chi Yu had Qi Tong try to hack into the lunar orbit project system to steal the account, but she failed.

“There’s no way, it’s too hard,” Qi Tong said. “Your Chi Group’s firewall is seriously impressive; it can’t be breached. Let me tell you a horror story: even if you get Ran Jin’s password and log into her account, you still won’t be able to use her authorization to blockade the orbit.”

Chi Yu sat on the sofa, propping her head up to look at Qi Tong, waiting for her to continue.

“Besides her account password, there’s another layer of encryption. It needs to be unlocked with her iris.”

“Iris… stealing Ran Jin’s iris isn’t impossible. I know an instrument that can do it.” Chi Yu pointed to her own eyes. “That device is similar to a contact lens. You wear it, and if you maintain eye contact with the target eye for about ten seconds, it can completely copy their iris.”

“Mhm…” Qi Tong said. “Are you going to steal Ran Jin’s iris? Do you think she’ll maintain eye contact with you for ten seconds?”

Chi Yu pondered for a moment. “It’s possible. I’ll think of a way. You keep trying to hack her password for me.”

Qi Tong: “Fine.”