Hong Kong variety show: The mastermind behind the scenes is emerging.

Chairman's office, top floor of the Golden Harvest Building, Central.

The rain outside cascaded down the huge floor-to-ceiling windows like a waterfall, shrouding the entire Victoria Harbour in a hazy mist. This oppressive weather seemed to reflect the mood of someone inside.

"Secretary Hu, this document is printed incorrectly. This is the report from the previous quarter."

Lu Chen sat in the large boss's chair, looking at the document he was holding upside down. He looked up and his gaze fell on the woman standing in front of the desk.

Today, Ba Wanghua was wearing a gray business suit, but her usually bright eyes were bloodshot, with deep dark circles under them, clearly indicating she hadn't slept all night. She seemed somewhat absent-minded, and it took her several seconds to react after hearing Lu Chen's words.

"Ah... I'm sorry, boss, I... I'll reprint it right away."

Hu Huizhong hurriedly took the document, her trembling fingers accidentally knocking over the coffee cup on the table.

"Splash!"

Brown liquid flowed onto the clean tabletop and stained her cuffs.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Hu Huizhong panicked even more, frantically grabbing tissues to wipe her face, but the more she wiped, the more messy it became, and tears welled up in her eyes.

A warm, large hand suddenly grasped her wrist.

"Stop wiping."

Lu Chen stood up, pulled out a few tissues, and gently wiped the coffee stains from her hands. His voice was gentle and magnetic, "What's wrong? You've been distracted since you came in this morning. Are you feeling unwell?"

Feeling the warmth of the man's palm, Hu Huizhong felt a lump in her throat, and a surge of grievance and fear welled up inside her.

The black bugging device, like a nightmare, lay quietly in her pocket, burning her skin like a red-hot iron and torturing her conscience.

"I...I'm fine, I probably just didn't sleep well last night." Hu Huizhong lowered her head, not daring to look Lu Chen in the eye, afraid that she would collapse at any moment.

Looking at her pitiful appearance, Lu Chen's eyes revealed a hint of understanding.

As a shrewd individual, and given his understanding of those foreigners, he guessed the gist of it almost instantly. It was simply that after the victory in the Falklands War, that impatient foreigner couldn't sit still any longer and began putting pressure on this pawn he had planted beside him.

Looking at the woman struggling in pain in front of him, Lu Chen calculated in his mind that the progress bar of the conquest was probably already at 99%.

Now, all that's needed is one last fire to completely burn away the shackles binding her.

"Since you're not feeling well, don't do anything else and go rest," Lu Chen said gently. "I have some things to take care of, I'll be back at noon."

After saying that, he turned and walked out of the office.

Watching Lu Chen's departing figure, Ba Wanghua bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes.

He trusted me so much that he even entrusted me with many of the company's confidential documents. And what did I do? I was carrying a bug that I intended to kill him.

"What should I do...? Can anyone tell me what to do...?"

The Queen of the Night covered her face in pain.

……

Time passed second by second.

12:30 PM.

The office door was pushed open again.

"Ah Hui, are you still busy?"

Lu Chen walked in. This time, he wasn't carrying any documents, but rather a takeout bag with the words "Zai Xing Roast Meat" printed on it.

A rich aroma of honey-glazed char siu instantly filled the entire office.

The Queen of the Night Flower looked up and froze.

At this moment, Lu Chen had taken off his expensive handmade suit jacket and draped it over his arm, the collar of his white shirt was slightly open, and there was a layer of fine beads of sweat on his forehead.

"Eat it while it's hot," Lu Chen said with a smile as he placed the takeout on her table, wiping his sweat. "I remember you said you hadn't had this place's char siu in a long time. Maybe it's because of the rain today, but I happened to pass by and saw that there weren't many people, so I bought you a serving."

In that instant.

Ba Wanghua felt a "boom" in her mind, as if something had collapsed.

He is a billionaire, a powerful business tycoon, and a rising Chinese tycoon whom even the foreigners at Jardine Matheson fear.

Yet this same man, because of a casual remark she made, personally went to Wan Chai and queued for half an hour just to buy her a char siu rice.

The beads of sweat on his forehead were more dazzling than any diamond.

"Lu Chen..."

The voice of the female warrior choked with emotion.

All reason, all discipline, all consequences—all vanished at that moment.

She suddenly stood up, rushed out of her desk, and threw herself into Lu Chen's arms, hugging his waist tightly.

"What's wrong? Are you starving?"

Lu Chen was stunned for a moment, then wrapped his arms around her, a knowing smile playing on his lips.

"Waaaaah..."

The vixen buried her head in his chest and burst into tears. Her tears instantly soaked Lu Chen's shirt.

She cried so heartbreakingly, as if she wanted to release all the grievances, fears, and anxieties she had felt during this time.

"Alright, alright, silly girl, why are you crying?"

Lu Chen gently patted her back, as if coaxing a child, "With me here, the sky won't fall down."

a long time.

The Queen of the Night raised her head, and in her red, tear-filled eyes, there was no longer any confusion, only determination.

With trembling hands, she pulled the black listening device from her inner pocket.

"What is this?"

Lu Chen asked the question knowingly, but his eyes instantly sharpened.

"This is... given to me by Richard. I'm actually an undercover agent sent by the police..."

The female officer's voice was still trembling, but her tone was unusually firm. "It's a miniature listening device from MI5. He forced me to put it on you. If I didn't, he would kick me out of the police force and accuse me of 'treason'."

After recounting everything from being selected by the police academy to the wiretapping device, the "Overbearing Flower" seemed to have exhausted all her strength, leaning against Lu Chen in a state of utter despair.

She took the gamble.

They gambled their future and their destiny.

Lu Chen stared at the black device, no bigger than a button, a cold killing intent flashing in his eyes.

"Richard...good, very good."

Lu Chen sneered. That foreigner really wanted to play dirty tricks. Since you want to play, then I'll play a big game with you.

"Ah Hui, look at me," Lu Chen cupped Ba Wanghua's face in his hands, his gaze deep and unwavering. "I believe in you. Don't worry, from today onwards you are no longer anyone's pawn. You are my woman."

This domineering declaration completely shattered the last brick of the Overlord Flower's defenses.

She nodded vigorously, her eyes filled with love and affection.

"Now, wipe away your tears."

Lu Chen instantly switched to "mastermind" mode, picked up the bugging device, and played with it in his hand for a moment.

Military-grade eavesdropping devices, given current technology and assuming they remain miniaturized, have an effective range of no more than 300 meters.

"Three hundred meters..."

Lu Chen looked out the window.

This distance means that the receiving end is near this building, and it must be in a place with an open view or minimal signal obstruction.

"They're downstairs."

Lu Chen raised his index finger to Ba Wanghua, making a shushing gesture.

Then he pointed to his cuff.

The "Overlord Flower" was also a professionally trained elite, and she immediately understood. She took a deep breath, adjusted her breathing, and carefully slipped the bug into the inside of Lu Chen's suit sleeve—this position was both effective at picking up sound and at creating some friction noise from the fabric to interfere with the listener's judgment.

Lu Chen reached out and pressed the miniature switch on the side of the bugging device.

The red light flashed and disappeared.

The fun has begun.

"Alright, stop crying," Lu Chen's voice suddenly became gentle and normal, as if nothing had happened. "Eat it while it's hot, the char siu won't taste good when it gets cold. I specially asked the boss to add a little extra honey glaze."

The vixen wiped away her tears, trying her best to make her voice sound normal, even with a slightly coquettish nasal tone:

"Um... thank you, boss, you're so kind to me."

"If I'm not good to you, who will I be good to?" Lu Chen said, pulling her to sit on the sofa. "By the way, could you organize that document about the acquisition of Damon Paging Company this afternoon?"

"Okay, I'll be careful."

The two ate lunch as usual, chatting about work and everyday life.

Under the table, Lu Chen took out his pen and quickly wrote a line on a piece of white paper, showing it to Ba Wanghua:

[Keep things natural; I'm going to root out these rats.]

Ba Wanghua looked at the words and nodded vigorously, clutching the char siu rice that Lu Chen had bought for her tightly in her hand.

At that moment, she felt a sense of peace she had never felt before.

at the same time.

Lu Chen took out the newly developed "prototype" phone, which was still in the testing phase, and sent an encrypted message to Tian Yangsheng a few minutes later.

Tian Yangsheng, from the building's security department, received the order.

"The boss has ordered a search of all suspicious vehicles within 300 meters of the building. The focus is on vans or modified vehicles with antennas. The target is being monitored for radio activity."

"Understood!" Tian Yangyi's eyes flashed coldly as he spoke into the walkie-talkie, "Squad two, squad three, grab your weapons and follow me! Keep your eyes peeled, don't alert the prey."

……

Across from Jiahe Building, in a quiet back alley.

A gray van with "So-and-so Cleaning Company" printed on its exterior was quietly parked in the shadows.

Inside the carriage, however, the scene was quite different.

Various sophisticated electronic instruments filled the cramped space; the green light of the oscilloscope flickered in the dim light; and the tape recorder's magnetic tape was slowly turning.

Two young police officers from the wiretapping unit were wearing headphones and listening intently.

One of them, slightly older, wore glasses and had a refined appearance, but his eyes revealed a shrewdness. His name was Yang Zhen, and at that time he was just a technical backbone who had only been in the industry for a few years.

The other one was younger, a little chubby, and looked like an ordinary citizen. He was holding a hamburger and taking big bites of it. His name was Liang Junyi.

"Hey Ayi, isn't Lu Chen just too boring?"

Yang Zhen took off his headphones, rubbed his ears, and said, "After listening for so long, all he talked about was eating char siu and choosing a lab location. What kind of evidence is that? Is that foreigner out of his mind, making us target a legitimate businessman?"

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" Liang Junyi glared at him, adjusted his glasses, and said, "This is an order from above. Chief Inspector Richard suspects that Lu Chen is using a high-tech company to launder money. What we need to do is record everything and analyze everything."

"Tch, I think it's just that foreigners are jealous of how much money others make." Yang Zhen curled his lip, glanced at the heavy rain outside the window, and said, "In this awful weather, we're stuck in this tin can, and we have to listen to people eating 'Cai Hing Roast Meat'... Damn, it's making me hungry."

"That Officer Hu, I thought she was an ice queen back in police academy, but she cried like a little girl in front of that guy surnamed Lu," Yang Zhen gossiped. "Hey, do you think they're having an affair?"

Focus on your work!

Liang Junyi said with a serious expression, "Whether there is any illicit affair is not our concern. What we need to find are the keywords: drugs, weapons, and dirty money. This is a direct order from the Political Department."

Through the earphones, Lu Chen and Ba Wanghua's conversation could be heard.

"Ah Hui, want to come to my house tonight? I just bought a new bottle of good wine."

"Ugh... not tonight, my mom wants me to go home for dinner..."

"Tch—" Yang Zhen rolled his eyes. "More of this nonsense. Brother Yi, this job is so boring. When did our Criminal Intelligence Bureau (CIB) become like paparazzi for those foreigners?"

Liang Junyi sighed, took off his glasses, and wiped them.

"There's nothing we can do. The foreigners are in charge now. If we want to get promoted and make a living, we have to obey."

"Hey, let's go get some hot pot after we finish this order? I'm so bored."

"Okay, okay, I'll go when my shift ends."