It's just a toy, why would you care if it breaks?

Wei Xun leaned back in his chair, his mind filled with images of Nan Yan.

Just then, my phone rang. It was Director Lu from the R&D department calling.

He pressed the answer button, his tone returning to its usual calm: "Feed."

"General Manager Wei, hello!" Director Lu said excitedly, "I'd like to report to you that the scrapping procedures for our R&D department's batch of 'Starcore-9000 high-performance cluster servers' have all been completed. The new 'Starcore-10000 high-performance cluster servers' have arrived, and the installation and commissioning team is working hard on debugging them. They are expected to be put into use tomorrow. As for the old equipment... a professional scrap metal recycling agency just came to buy it. All procedures are in accordance with regulations."

The "Starcore-9000" is a high-computing-power device that the Wei's Group's R&D department has been using for five years, and it can still basically meet the needs.

Unexpectedly, a few days ago, less than a month after Wei Xun took office, he approved a huge sum of money to allow the R&D department to completely upgrade its equipment.

The "Starcore-10000" is currently the industry's top high-performance cluster server, which can improve computing speed by 5%.

"Okay." Wei Xun replied, "Tell that person from the junk-collecting organization to wait a moment. I need to come to your R&D department in person."

Director Lu was even more delighted: "Great! Great! Mr. Wei, we welcome you anytime! I'll inform everyone to prepare right away!"

He knew in his heart that it was because this young president attached great importance to the R&D department that he approved such a large sum of money for them to upgrade their equipment so soon after taking office.

"No need for special preparations, I'm just here to take a look." After Wei Xun finished speaking, he hung up the phone and said to Qing Lin outside, "Qing Lin, come with me to the R&D department."

Wei Xun's car drove out of the company building.

The R&D department is located in a science park on the outskirts of the city, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, in a quiet environment suitable for scientific research.

More than forty minutes later, the car arrived at the science park.

As soon as Wei Xun's car came to a stop, Director Lu came up to greet him with several core members of the R&D department.

"Hmm." Wei Xun's gaze swept across the open space in front of the R&D department building, where a blue scrap metal truck was parked.

Several people in blue work clothes were packing up their tools, and next to them were several large pieces of equipment that had just been moved out of the building.

Just then, a familiar figure came into his view.

The man checking the list with Director Lu's assistant was Yan Chong, the taxi driver he had met on his last trip to the capital.

Standing next to Yan Chong was a thin young man, who was Lu You, whom Yan Chong had introduced to him.

This was planned in the capital: Wei Xun deliberately scrapped several high-end devices, allowing his "Jingwei Hai" people to take them away, greatly increasing their organization's computing power and helping them quickly crack the secret of that information storage card.

Wei Xun's gaze darkened slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.

He pretended not to know the two of them, put on the expression typical of a shrewd businessman, and walked towards Yan Chong.

Director Lu quickly introduced, "Yes, this is General Manager Wei. This is Boss Yan. His recycling organization is very professional in the industry, and all the necessary permits are in order."

Yan Chong looked up, saw Wei Xun, and immediately adopted a respectful expression: "Hello, Mr. Wei! I've long admired your name!"

"Have you settled on the price for recycling the old equipment?" Wei Xun didn't waste any time on pleasantries and went straight to the point.

Director Lu handed him the purchase order to review: "It's settled with President Wei; it's based on the fair market price."

"Fair market price?" Wei Xun raised an eyebrow and looked at Yan Chong: "Boss Yan, I've looked at the models and condition of these used equipment. Isn't this price a bit too low? Although our Wei Group is a large and powerful company, we won't do business at a loss. If you're really interested in doing this deal, we can raise the price by five percent."

Yan Chong still had a smile on his face: "President Wei, you're joking. This price is already our bottom line. If we give another five percent discount, we'll really lose money."

"Losing money?" Wei Xun asked calmly. "Boss Yan, I think you should know that although 'Star Core-9000' is old equipment, its core components still have high recycling value. Moreover, receiving an order from our Wei Group will enhance your organization's reputation, and there will be plenty of business to do in the future. Three points, I can't budge any further."

Yan Chong hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Fine! We'll do as you say, lower it by three points!"

"Okay." Wei Xun nodded in satisfaction. "Director Lu, let's complete the remaining procedures with Boss Yan."

"Yes, Mr. Wei."

As Yan Chong checked the final amount with Director Lu's assistant, he thought to himself, "This General Manager Wei is really stingy. He's so calculating about such a small amount of money from recycling. What a miser! No wonder people say that the richer people are, the stingier they are..."

His voice wasn't loud, but everyone around him could hear it.

Director Lu looked somewhat embarrassed. He wanted to explain, but was afraid of upsetting Wei Xun, so he could only pretend not to hear.

Wei Xun, however, did not care at all, and his face remained expressionless.

Merchants pursue profit; there's nothing shameful about it.

Yan Chong took out a wad of cash from his bag and counted it out to Director Lu in front of him, muttering, "This trip was a real loss. There wasn't much profit to begin with, and now with a three-point reduction, it's like we've worked for nothing and made no money."

The scene was bustling with activity, everyone's attention was focused on moving equipment, and no one noticed the actions of the thin young man, Lu You.

While everyone was distracted, Lu You quietly walked up to Wei Xun, pretending to bend down to move equipment, but instead slipped a small object into Wei Xun's hand.

Wei Xun gripped the object tightly without making a sound.

He could tell it was a USB flash drive.

It's obvious that this USB drive is used to install encrypted chat software.

Soon, all the old equipment was loaded onto the truck.

Yan Chong greeted Director Lu, then jumped into the truck, started the engine, and drove off towards the exit of the park. Lu You, sitting in the passenger seat, glanced at Wei Xun through the window before turning his head away.

Wei Xun watched the truck disappear from sight before slowly releasing his grip and putting the USB drive into his pocket.

"Director Lu, take me to see the new equipment," Wei Xun said to Director Lu.

"Okay, Mr. Wei, please follow me."

Inside the server room, several brand-new "Starcore-10000" high-performance cluster servers have been installed and are undergoing final debugging by the staff.

Wei Xun carefully examined the new equipment, asked a few questions, and then said to the R&D staff, "Thank you for your hard work. Upgrading the equipment is to enable you to carry out your work better. I hope you will continue your efforts and develop more valuable projects for the company."

"Consider the money from selling the old equipment a benefit for everyone. Let Director Lu treat everyone to a big meal and let them relax with the extra 3% discount."

Upon hearing this, the R&D department employees cheered happily, "Thank you, General Manager Wei!"

Wei Xun took Qing Lin away from the R&D department building and drove back to the company headquarters.

As the car was driving back, Wei Xun's phone suddenly vibrated.

It was a message from Nan Yan.

The message was simple, and the tone was exceptionally respectful: "Sir, may I ask if I can work overtime at the bakery tonight? We've received many pre-orders for our new cookies today, and we need to make more."

Upon seeing this message, Wei Xun felt a strange sense of dissatisfaction rise within him.

This little guy works an unpaid job at the bakery, but he's getting more and more enthusiastic about it. He was thinking about working overtime yesterday and today, but he doesn't seem to care about me as much.

He started typing a reply: Don't go...

"Working overtime without pay, and being so tired, is a complete loss."

He wanted Nan Yan to go home as soon as possible, even if they didn't talk and just stayed quietly in the same room.

Qinglin, who was standing next to him, noticed the change in his expression and vaguely heard him muttering to himself. She couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Wei, did Nanyan tell you that working at the bakery is tiring?"

Wei Xun paused for a moment: "Not really. He really enjoys going to the bakery, and he's always happy when he talks about work."

After saying that, he looked at the three words "Don't go" that he had typed and suddenly felt something was wrong.

Wei Xun deleted the text he had typed and edited the message again: "What time will you be working overtime? I'll come pick you up."

Shortly after the message was sent, Nan Yan replied: "Around 10 o'clock. Sir, you don't need to pick me up. Sister Dan said she'll drop me off at the entrance of the community after she's done with her work, and she'll make sure I'm safe."

Wei Xun stared at the line of text on the screen, feeling as if something was stuck in his throat.

Nan Yan offered to pick him up from get off work out of kindness, but he refused.

They even said that Sister Dan would take him home.

This indicates that Nan Yan had other social interactions.

In Nan Yan's world, there are already other people besides him.

Wei Xun frowned, a bitter feeling welling up inside him.

He is no longer that little guy who belongs only to himself.

Her colleagues at the bakery, the manager named Sister Dan, and other people she interacts with daily... they are gradually taking up Nan Yan's time and attention.

An absurd and domineering thought popped into his head uncontrollably—he wanted to drag Nan Yan back from that bakery, lock him in the house, and keep him by his side every step of the way.

He must be able to have only himself in his eyes, heart, and body.

The thought had barely crossed his mind when Wei Xun forcibly suppressed it.

He clenched his fist tightly.

No...

No!

What's the difference between such possessiveness and such a desire for control and those bastards who treat Nan Yan as a plaything?

He clearly wanted to help Nan Yan escape the shadows of the past and live a free and happy life.

Wei Xun closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and forcibly suppressed the surging jealousy and resentment.

After calming down and thinking it over, he realized that Sister Dan was the manager of the bakery and a reliable person. Having her take Nan Yan home would definitely be much safer than Nan Yan riding her bike alone late at night.

His fingertips hovered over the screen for a long time before finally typing out only one word: "Okay".

Qinglin sat beside her and watched all of this.

She knew Wei Xun was upset, but she didn't know how to comfort him.

After a while, Wei Xun spoke up: "Qinglin, I have a question for you."

"Mr. Wei, please speak."

"If—and I mean if" Wei Xun hesitated, "I have a friend who hurt someone because of a misunderstanding. Now he regrets it and wants to apologize, but he doesn't know how. What do you think he should buy as an apology?"

Qinglin's heart skipped a beat, and she instantly understood.

The "friend" Wei Xun was referring to was actually himself.

And the person who was hurt was naturally Nan Yan.

She didn't point it out, but thought about it seriously for a moment and asked, "Mr. Wei, is your friend very concerned about the person who was hurt?"

Wei Xun replied without hesitation, "Yes, I care a lot. I wish I could hold him in the palm of my hand."

"If that's the case, then there's really no need to buy anything expensive." Qinglin said calmly, "President Wei, between superiors and subordinates, giving money, benefits, or promotions might satisfy the subordinates. But it's not like that between close people."

"Mr. Wei, what matters most between close people is the sentiment. Instead of spending a lot of money on gifts, it's better to do something simple for the other person. Investing time and sincerity is more effective than any expensive gift."

Wei Xun listened quietly, seemingly understanding something, and his brows slowly relaxed.