Gangster heir? Please call me a legitimate entrepreneur.

Conference Room No. 1, top floor of Sihai Building.

The heavy blackout curtains were drawn tightly shut, and the main lights were off in the room.

A huge projection screen hung on the wall, emitting a faint blue light that illuminated the faces of the people around the long conference table.

The air was filled with a strong smell of tobacco and the cloying sweetness of Red Bull.

Several air purifiers were whirring, but they still couldn't remove the sweat and odor from these grown men.

Su Ye sat in the main seat.

He wasn't wearing a suit today, but rather a loose gray chunky knit sweater with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

He was holding that same silver thermos cup that he never used to carry.

The gold-rimmed glasses on his nose flashed a cold, white light in the reflection of the curtain.

"In the past six months, our Sihai business has stabilized."

Su Ye spoke, his voice not loud, but it could be heard clearly in the quiet conference room.

He tapped the solid wood tabletop with his knuckles, producing two muffled "thump-thump" sounds.

"Profits in logistics, construction, and live-streaming of agricultural products are all doubling."

"However, this is all hard-earned money."

He paused for a moment, unscrewed the lid of the cup, and blew on the goji berries on the surface of the water.

He lowered his head and took a sip, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

Lei Hu below couldn't sit still any longer.

For the first time ever, the bald man was wearing a white collared shirt today, but the buttons were fastened so tightly that a red mark was left around the collar.

He rubbed his thighs with his large, fan-like hands, his face filled with barely suppressed excitement.

"Brother Su!"

Lei Hu, with his hoarse voice, strained to the highest register.

"I understand! I understand everything! Physical businesses are slow to generate income and are easily watched by others!"

He looked around, lowered his voice mysteriously, and leaned forward.

"Are we... going to get into... you know... online gambling?"

"These smartphones are so popular now. My underlings are always fiddling around with those old iPhones."

Lei Hu's eyes shone like two large searchlights.

"Brother Su, are you planning to set up servers overseas and run an online casino? That's a quick way to make money!"

Upon hearing this, the heads of the various halls on either side of the conference table turned green with envy.

Fatty Liu, who used to manage the bathhouse, slammed his hand on the table in excitement, splashing the tea in his cup.

"Tiger is right, Boss Su! We've been eating dirt on construction sites for the past few years."

"Run an online casino! No need to worry about police raids, you can make money while lying down!"

"We're experts at this job; that's what we started out doing!"

Shen Qinghan sat in the corner taking meeting notes.

Hearing that these gangsters had revealed their true colors, my heart skipped a beat.

The nib of the ballpoint pen in my hand drew a long black line on the notebook, almost tearing the paper.

She instinctively reached for her lower back, even though there was no gun there.

It’s over.

Su Ye's true colors have finally been revealed; under the guise of legality, he's plotting transnational cybercrime!

Su Ye ignored the excited crowd below.

He slowly put down the thermos.

He pulled out several thick, brick-like books from a black briefcase under the table.

"Bang!"

He slammed several books heavily onto the conference table, raising a cloud of fine dust.

"Online casino?"

Su Ye sneered, a mocking smile playing on his lips.

"Making that kind of childless, worthless money, do you think you haven't spent enough time working on those sewing machines in there?"

His long, slender fingers touched the cover of the top book.

"Look what this says."

Lei Hu was stunned; his enthusiasm was suddenly doused with a bucket of ice water.

He gripped the collar of his white shirt with his stubby fingers and craned his neck forward.

He squinted his large, round eyes and read out the words on the cover, one by one.

"A C++ language basics tutorial?"

Lei Hu stammered, turning to look at the simple-minded guy beside him, "What's this? What does 'jiajia' mean?"

Er Lengzi scratched his armpit, looking completely bewildered.

"I wonder, Tiger, is it related to the knife skills we used to use to kill people? Maybe add two more strikes?"

Fatty Liu also went over and picked up another book from the bottom.

It's as thick as a Xinhua Dictionary.

"Algorithms...Introduction to Algorithms?"

Fatty Liu swallowed hard, making a gurgling sound. "President Su, what... what is this algorithm? Is it a fortune-telling method?"

"puff."

Shen Qinghan couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing, covering her mouth.

I quickly pretended to cough twice and then frantically scribbled notes.

These illiterate people don't even know C++, yet they're involved in transnational cybercrime? It's utterly ridiculous.

Su Ye leaned back in the leather chair, his fingers interlaced under his chin.

Looking at these brutes who used to grab territory with machetes, now holding programming books and looking completely bewildered.

He sighed.

"It's not fortune telling, it's money telling. It's telling how much money you'll make in the future."

Su Ye stood up and walked to the projection screen.

Pick up the laser pointer, and the red light shines onto the screen.

"Starting today, Sihai Group is entering the mobile internet market."

"We won't get into games or gambling. We'll focus on short videos and content recommendation algorithms."

He turned around, his glasses reflecting the light, his eyes becoming sharp.

"The future richest people are all on this screen."

"Traffic to physical stores has peaked. I want to control all the traffic in Longhai City, and even the whole country."

Lei Hu was completely confused.

He raised his hand, like a primary school student who couldn't understand the lesson.

"Brother Su, what's this short video...? What does it have to do with our security department? All we do is beat people up."

Su Ye threw the laser pointer on the table, making a crisp snapping sound.

"It's related, it's very related."

He walked over to Lei Hu and patted his tense shoulder.

"We're developing an app now, but we're short-staffed. We're especially short-staffed for programmers."

Su Ye pointed to the several thick books on the table.

"Starting tomorrow, the entire security department will undergo full-time training."

"Take two months to thoroughly understand these books."

The air froze instantly.

The conference room was deathly silent; even the sound of the air conditioner's exhaust seemed jarring.

Lei Hu's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and his jaw slammed into his chest with a thud.

"What?!"

His voice cracked like a rooster whose neck had been stepped on.

"Su, Brother Su! You want us to be... you know... programmers? Write code?!"

Er Lengzi slumped into his chair, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"I'm doomed. I struggle to even memorize second-grade multiplication tables. Writing code? That's going to kill me."

Fatty Liu wiped the oily sweat from his forehead, his hands trembling.

"Mr. Su, how about we switch departments? Let the delivery guys from Express Delivery learn from them? They do a lot of errands and are quick-witted!"

"no."

Su Ye resolutely refused, leaving no room for negotiation.

He picked up his thermos and turned to walk towards the door.

"Couriers also need to deliver packages; they can't let their main business suffer."

He walked to the door and stopped.

He looked back at the gang leaders who looked like they had lost their parents.

"The security department is too idle these days. They're either tutoring elementary school math students or helping elderly ladies cross the street. What kind of security is that?"

Su Ye's lips curled into a devilish smile.

"You have two months. Anyone who fails to pass the junior programmer qualification exam will be sent to the logistics center to carry sandbags."

With a "bang," the conference room door slammed shut.

The room was filled with wails.

Lei Hu scratched his shiny bald head so hard he almost tore his scalp raw.

"My goodness! This is even harder than sending me to fight the Triads!"

He picked up the book "Introduction to Algorithms," flipped through a couple of pages, and looked at the dense English text and formulas on it.

I felt dizzy and nauseous.

"Tiger, Brother Tiger, what should we do?" Er Lengzi asked, his voice trembling with tears.

Lei Hu gritted his teeth and slammed his hand on the table.

"What do we do? We have to learn! Brother Su has spoken, so we have to learn even if it's tough!"

He steeled himself and roared gruffly, "Go! Grab that guy at the night market who sells screen protectors! I heard he used to be an internet cafe manager, he knows computers, let him be our personal tutor!"

Shen Qinghan sat in the corner, watching the group of burly men frowning at a few programming books.

My brain is throbbing.

She quietly took out her encrypted phone from her pocket and blindly typed a text message to Li Jianguo.

[Chief, Su Ye has stopped laundering money on the dark web. He's gone mad; he's forcing the security department to learn C++.]

Upon receiving the text message, Li Jianguo was sitting at his desk smoking a Hongmei cigarette.

A puff of smoke got stuck in my throat, and I coughed until tears streamed down my face.

He stared at the text message, his presbyopic eyes narrowing into slits.

"Learn C++?"

The old man stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and snorted coldly.

"Bullshit! A bunch of guys with machetes writing code? That's definitely a cover! Su Ye is probably using the internet as a pretext to cover up his overseas drug money entering the country!"

Li Jianguo grabbed the red secure phone on the table and dialed quickly.

"Feeding? Is this the Economic Crime Investigation Department?"

He lowered his voice, his tone revealing a fierce determination to win.

"Keep a close eye on the Sihai Group's recent cash flows! Especially overseas remittances! Don't let a single penny slip by!"

at the same time.

The open-air parking lot downstairs at Sihai Building.

Su Ye got into the back seat of the black Maybach and closed the door.

The driver turned around and asked softly, "Mr. Su, shall we go back to the villa?"

Su Ye unscrewed the lid of the thermos and took a sip of the slightly chilly tea.

He looked at the snowflakes falling outside the car window, his eyes as deep and still as a stagnant pool.

"I won't reply."

He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, and a glint of light flashed behind the lenses.

"To the capital."

Su Ye's voice was calm and undisturbed.

"Those illiterate people alone could never write the algorithm I need in their lifetime."

"I'm going to Zhongguancun. I need to find someone."

"A genius who can help me lock all of China's traffic into a cage of the four seas."