CHAPTER 409: CHAPTER 410: COOL! DOCTOR JIANG, SORRY! (2500) WORDS

Shen Congwen was inwardly groaning, but he couldn’t voice his objections and had no choice but to agree.

Zhou Yunchen, grinning, asked, "Congwen, what’s wrong? Are you finding this difficult?"

"No, not at all," Shen Congwen sighed.

Zhou Yunchen still grinned. "Good, that’s good then."

Gu Anxi casually remarked, "Zhou Yunchen, don’t always bully Deputy Shen."

Zhou Yunchen’s smile widened. "How am I bullying him! It’s clearly just..."

As he spoke, his words became increasingly outrageous, and onlookers began to look askance. Feeling overwhelmed, Shen Congwen quickly said, "Why don’t we all head over there? Mr. Jiang has already arrived."

The newly opened company of the Jiang Family wasn’t far, only about a ten-minute walk.

About halfway there, Shen Congwen suddenly grasped the truth. "Give Gu Yuntian a surprise"? Bah! Gu Anxi just says whatever suits the person she’s talking to, a veritable chameleon. This whole commotion at Crystal Clear Water and Sky was clearly aimed at the new joint company of the Jiang and Gu Families... I’m eighty percent sure things are going to take an unexpected turn today. For someone so young, Gu Anxi is incredibly scheming, her cunning no less profound than Zhou Yunchen’s. Right now, I really wish I could just turn around and go back to Beicheng. I’ve been duped from start to finish. I’ve already got one foot on Gu Anxi’s boat now. If I claimed there was nothing suspicious going on between me, Zhou Yunchen, and Gu Anxi, who would believe it? Certainly not a mistrustful man like Gu Yuanshan.

Just then, Gu Anxi, smiling brightly, asked, "Deputy Shen, why have you stopped walking?"

Shen Congwen gave a bitter smile but said nothing.

They arrived at the company jointly established by the Jiang and Gu Families. It was essentially a large, temporary factory built nearby to conveniently extract Jing from Crystal Clear Water and Sky. Gu Yuanshan had chosen this auspicious day for the opening, and Jiang Bin had arrived early. He was currently chatting with Jiang Chaoge.

When Jiang Chaoge looked up and saw Gu Anxi, she felt a little uncomfortable, remembering their last encounter.

Jiang Bin, however, was unaware. "Congwen, what brings you here with Director Zhou?"

Shen Congwen forced a smile. "Just a coincidence! The Crystal Clear Water and Sky project is restarting today."

Jiang Bin offered some polite remarks, "No wonder it sounded so lively over there."

He then turned to Gu Anxi, saying preemptively, "Miss Gu is here for business, and so are we. I trust Miss Gu isn’t here today to make things difficult for us?"

After all, they had widened the river flowing from Crystal Clear Water and Sky to ensure a large volume of water could be diverted to their facility. So, he made the first move, intending to leave Gu Anxi with nothing to say.

As expected, the young woman was impressively magnanimous. "Uncle Jiang, you’re exaggerating. We’re all business people here. Not only will I not cause any trouble, I even had a flower basket sent over. Didn’t Dr. Jiang tell you?"

Jiang Bin looked at Jiang Chaoge. "Is that true?"

Jiang Chaoge replied softly, "Yes, it is."

Jiang Bin, being an old fox, naturally understood. He laughed and said, "Well, in that case, we’re practically family. We should certainly help each other out in the future, being so close."

Gu Anxi also replied courteously, "Uncle Jiang is absolutely right."

She then turned to Jiang Chaoge. "Dr. Jiang, if you encounter any difficulties during the Jing extraction process, feel free to discuss them with me. I do have some experience in that area."

Jiang Chaoge was a talented and proud young woman. How could she bear such words in front of the head of the Jiang Family?

So, she stated confidently, "There shouldn’t be any problems."

Gu Anxi praised her sweetly, "Oh, if Dr. Jiang says there won’t be any problems, then there really won’t be any!"

She appeared very agreeable and even joined Zhou Yunchen and Shen Congwen for a meal at Jiang Bin’s invitation. During the meal, Gu Anxi pointed to a dish, exclaiming how delicious it was.

Jiang Bin smiled. "This is Chaoge’s specialty."

A faint smile touched Jiang Chaoge’s lips.

Gu Anxi immediately chimed in with fawning praise, "No wonder this dish tastes so familiar! A few days ago, Dr. Jiang specially went to cook for my little uncle and made this very signature dish. Unfortunately, my uncle was asleep, so it all ended up in my stomach."

She said this with a sweet smile, but the atmosphere around them grew particularly tense.

Zhou Yunchen struggled to suppress his laughter.

Shen Congwen was truly witnessing Gu Anxi’s talent for duplicity. With a single verbal thrust, she had drawn blood from Jiang Chaoge, metaphorically speaking. There was no need for him to lift a finger; Jiang Bin himself would deal with her!

Indeed, Jiang Bin’s expression was not pleasant.

He did intend to curry favor with the Bo Family, but that was a move for after he became the head of the four major families. Now was not the time, and Chaoge’s actions clearly stemmed from her own agenda.

However, he still needed her for the project, so he couldn’t show too much displeasure.

Gu Anxi’s gaze flashed across their faces, her smile unwavering. "I didn’t say anything wrong, did I?"

"Of course not." Jiang Bin, as the family head, was a master at managing such situations and quickly smoothed things over.

Gu Anxi didn’t seem to mind. After finishing her meal, she lingered, appearing intent on waiting until Jiang Chaoge successfully extracted the Jing before leaving.

Jiang Bin couldn’t very well kick out his guest, so he had to personally keep her company.

Dr. Jiang Chaoge was in a terrible mood. Her secret pursuit of Gu Yuntian having been exposed by Gu Anxi, she was now even more determined to successfully extract the Jing. Consequently, that afternoon, she personally started the equipment, connecting it to the river water...

Half an hour later, her expression darkened; the data was off!

Jiang Chaoge began to meticulously check the data, trying to pinpoint where an error might have occurred. She even called WK Company to inquire, but they confirmed that there were no issues with the machinery.

Jiang Chaoge frowned. After spending two to three hours without finding a solution, she was becoming agitated.

How could this be? I’ve done this experiment successfully eight or ten times. Why did it fail this time?

Jiang Bin also grew restless. He had poured hundreds of millions into this project and even publicly defied the Bo Family. If they couldn’t extract the Jing, not only would he face immense financial losses and public ridicule, but he would also have no way to account for it!

Jiang Bin went to the site, but being a layman, his presence was of little use.

It wasn’t until six in the afternoon that Jiang Bin finally decided to ask Gu Anxi to take a look. Gu Anxi readily agreed and came over. She walked around the facility, then remarked with apparent surprise, "This set of equipment looks very familiar."

Jiang Chaoge stated calmly, "It’s manufactured by WK Company."

Gu Anxi chuckled. "Ah, that explains it. I sold them to WK Company when I temporarily wasn’t using them. You didn’t buy them at a high price, did you?"

Jiang Bin’s mood was at rock bottom, but he composed himself and said softly, "Um, perhaps you could help take a look?"

Gu Anxi didn’t refuse. She made a show of examining the equipment from front to back with an air of expertise, then finally took a sample of the river water.

"Dr. Jiang, try running a small sample test," she said calmly.

Jiang Chaoge pursed her lips. "I’ve run many sample tests."

Gu Anxi smiled. "Alright then, I won’t say any more. Goodbye, Uncle Jiang."

Jiang Bin hurriedly stopped her, then said to Jiang Chaoge, "Go do it again. Perhaps you misremembered the data."

A talented individual like Jiang Chaoge naturally wouldn’t misremember data. There was only one possibility: the water used in previous experiments was different from the current water...

Ten minutes later, her face turned deathly pale.

Jiang Bin asked urgently, "How is it?"

Jiang Chaoge said softly, "Not a single trace of Jing can be extracted from this water."

Jiang Bin was dumbfounded. "How can that be? Nothing at all? Are you sure you didn’t make a mistake?"

Jiang Chaoge herself couldn’t believe it. The water had always been fine before; how could it suddenly be problematic?

Gu Anxi dusted off her clothes. "Uncle Jiang, that truly is a sad story."

She added, "An accident, really!"

Zhou Yunchen also suppressed a laugh. "Yes, an accident, no doubt! I forgot to mention, it seems An Pu can’t extract anything either. I wonder why that is?"

Gu Anxi nodded, her expression grave. "That’s right, we can’t extract anything either. So we came to Dr. Jiang’s place hoping to learn some new techniques. Unexpectedly, Dr. Jiang can’t do it either. What should we do now?"

Their coordinated performance, weaving truth with falsehood, was a revelation for Shen Congwen, sowed doubt in Jiang Bin, and infuriated Jiang Chaoge to the point of near collapse.

I’ve been tricked! Gu Anxi came today just to see me make a fool of myself.

She accused Gu Anxi with her eyes.

Gu Anxi smiled, tilting her head. "Dr. Jiang, I kindly warned you not to set your sights on my little uncle, but you wouldn’t listen. I originally intended to give you some face, but now, all I can say is... sorry~~"