Eighteen Ghost Emperors of my ancestors, how dare you make me live in terror?

The bidding period ends in one day.

Looking at the employees who had worked through another all-nighter, the department manager happily made himself a cup of coffee.

The air was filled with the smell of feet.

These are pale faces with dark circles under their eyes.

The sound of typing on a keyboard.

How full of life!

This is the atmosphere of striving!

This is the moving spirit of dedicating oneself to the company until death!

There are no nights you can't stay up all night, only nights where your will isn't strong enough.

There is no work that cannot be finished, only employees who are not motivated enough.

"very nice."

I was moved by my own self-pity for a long time.

The department manager glanced at a certain area, his eyes instantly drooped, and his mood turned particularly unpleasant.

He deliberately brought a gloomy face to the project office area, where only two or three employees were sitting sparsely at their workstations.

These guys used to be his capable henchmen, the kind who never left work until the wee hours. But ever since that guy transferred them, they've all become so decadent! They've actually started leaving get off work on time?

"Where's your team leader?" the department manager asked, squinting.

It's already afternoon, and I haven't seen anyone at the company yet?

"The team leader said he had something important to do today, but... he didn't come." The remaining employees gave a hesitant answer, still appearing somewhat timid in front of their former department manager.

"Ha, something important?" The department manager sneered. "I bet it's just absenteeism. Being late for work before was one thing, but now you're even daring to skip work. You guys really have a good team leader. He'll be fired sooner or later. Let's see what you guys do then."

Upon hearing the last sentence, the expressions of several employees visibly changed.

"Just wait and see, they won't be able to keep this up for long."

The department manager strolled over to the front desk and asked the HR representative there to confirm the details again.

The receptionist replied that Lu Ye hadn't come to work all day, saying he was going to do in-depth market research, and hadn't even submitted an application to leave.

The department manager at the time severely criticized this blatant violation of company rules.

Then, turning his back, a smug smile appeared on his face. "Heh, as expected, he skipped work. Tomorrow is the bidding day, and he dared to skip work to go play today?"

"I'll get you back in a bad way."

The department manager, with a cheerful smile, went up to the 33rd floor and headed straight for President Jiang Yingqing's office, where he began to embellish his report.

Jiang Yingqing looked up from her computer screen and coldly said, "If the company doesn't win the project in tomorrow's bidding, just fire him."

"Yes, General Jiang!"

The department manager, who had finally received the answer he wanted, left with an incredibly happy smile.

.........

In the dark basement of a high-end office building.

Lu Ye looked at the slogan written on the wall: "Soaring High, a Service Provider for a Better Life," then turned to Lao Da beside him and asked, "Is this the place?"

Old Da was also looking at the slogan and nodded affirmatively: "Yes, Tengfei Group, one of the four companies that will be bidding with our company tomorrow, and they are indeed very strong. The building above is Tengfei Group's corporate building."

Old Da scratched his head as he spoke, looking somewhat puzzled.

Tomorrow, I'm going with General Manager Jiang to compete for project proposals with four other companies. Instead of making the final preparations at the company today, our team leader actually dragged us to the competing company's place!

"Team leader, if you're planning to steal some of Tengfei Group's secret plans for tomorrow, I really can't help you. Such important plans are top secrets for every company, and there's no way to get your hands on them."

Old Da looked somewhat guilty, subconsciously thinking that Lu had brought him here to wage an information war, and it was cruel that he couldn't help the team leader.

Lu Ye seemed thoughtful. "You mean each company is very strict about keeping its bidding projects under control?"

"Of course." Old Da nodded. "The bidding proposals need to be completed a day in advance, and after they are confirmed to be correct, they need to be printed out and sealed. Once sealed, no one is allowed to touch them. They can only be unsealed again at the bidding site tomorrow."

"What if there are problems with the plan?" Lu Ye asked seriously again.

"What kind of problem is this?" Old Da didn't react.

Lu also gave an example: "For instance, what if the bidding proposal mysteriously disappears, or there's a strange fire?"

"This situation is unlikely to occur normally, but if it does, there are backups available. It might cause some trouble for the bidding process, but it's not a big problem. After all, it involves a project with hundreds of billions of dollars, and each company has made several backup plans."

"He's quite smart." Lu Ye stroked his chin, his expression somewhat regretful.

Wang Chao, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up when Lu asked so many questions: "Are you really eyeing the bidding proposals from the other four companies?"

Before Lu could answer, Lao Da was immediately shocked. "What? Team leader, what are you going to do?"

"Don't make such a fuss, it makes our group look unskilled."

Lu Ye, hands in his pockets, said calmly, "I was originally planning to see if I could burn their bidding proposal, or just rob them, or even just kidnap the project team."

Old Da: "........."

Wang Chao: "........."

Listen, listen!

As expected of the team leader, such a groundbreaking idea is something most people wouldn't come up with.

"But, after listening to what you just said, I realize that this doesn't seem very realistic, and it's quite troublesome too."

"Yes, yes, that's not realistic at all. Team leader, let's just stick to the bidding process. Our project proposal is good, we should have a fighting chance," Lao Da quickly advised.

Just hearing about such a thrilling thing makes me break out in a cold sweat.

Isn't bidding all about everyone competing on the quality of their project proposals? I've never heard of personal attacks being mixed in.

"Old Da, while you're very good at making plans, when it comes to interpersonal relationships, I can only say you're still as green as a novice." Lu Ye revealed a profound and unfathomable expression: "Whether you can win a project or not, the plan only accounts for 30%. The truly decisive 70% of the factors are done behind the scenes."

Lu also emphasized the words "in private".

"Really...?" Old Da looked bewildered.

Wang Chao calmly said, "So what do we do now? It seems your plan to take action on the bidding proposal is going to fall through."

"Who said it failed?" Lu Ye tilted his head and smiled. "My initial plan wasn't to snatch their bid. Trying to fix the symptoms but not the root cause is a waste of time."

"So how do you plan to 'treat the symptoms'?" Wang Chao frowned, seeing a dark shadow emerge from Lu Ye's arm, and already had a bad feeling.

"What's the point of resolving a bidding dispute if you just blow up their company headquarters? If the company's gone, can they still go to bid tomorrow? Of course not, right?"

In the dimly lit basement, Lu Ye's smile appeared so radiant.

The little ghost that jumped out of the coffin was holding a bomb-like object three or four times its own size, and excitedly burrowed deeper into the basement.

Turning around again, Lu Ye had already darted to the exit of the passage and was waving at the two of them.

"What are you all standing there for? Run or you'll blow yourself up!"