Hi guys, I'm really sorry for not updating for days now. Had some issues on my end.
I would ensure to update 2 chapters daily for the next two days.
I hope you enjoy.
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After the meeting
The door closed behind Li Feng with a soft click, leaving Wen Yuning alone in the room.
For a few seconds, she didn't move.
The room still held the warmth of conversation—the thinning steam from the teacups, the distant hum of the city filtering in through the windows.
Then she leaned back in her chair.
Not dramatically. Just enough to breathe.
'Good. It hadn't been a wasted trip after all.
The approach behind Silent Hands addressed—cleanly and directly—the very issue that had kept my team stuck for months.'
Her gaze drifted to the empty seat across from her—not replaying his actual words, but the way he'd spoken. Unhurried. Unguarded. He hadn't tried to convince her. He'd spoken as though the answer was already clear.
There was no need to second-guess it anymore.
Adaptive Signal Compression. Predictive reconstruction.
Clean. Deliberate. Mature.
And more importantly—
Applicable.
Wen Yuning reached for her phone and placed a call.
"Zhou Qi," she said once the line connected.
"Yes, Miss Wen?"
"I want a working session with the cognitive systems team," Wen Yuning said, already rising from her chair. "Today, if possible. Tomorrow morning at the latest."
There was a brief pause on the other end of the call.
"…Regarding the cognitive interface project?" Zhou Qi asked.
"Yes." A brief pause. "We'll need to restructure the project."
Wen Yuning moved toward the window, gaze settling on the city below—not distracted, simply thinking.
"We'll be restructuring the project around an external core methodology," she said. "Not extending our existing one."
She continued evenly.
"That means the project has to move to a joint framework. External IP involvement. Clear collaboration boundaries. And direct technical consultation from the inventor."
Zhou Qi drew a quiet breath. "Blue Horizon?"
"Blue Horizon," Yuning confirmed, without hesitation.
Another pause followed—longer this time, gears clearly turning.
"I'll notify the team," Zhou Qi said carefully. "Should I brief them on—"
"Not yet," Yuning interrupted gently. "No speculation."
She stopped by the window.
"Just tell them," she said, voice steady, "that we've identified the missing piece—and that we're moving forward."
She ended the call and stood there for a moment longer, watching traffic flow far below.
---
Evening — Second Branch Villa
The sitting room lights were already on when Feng came downstairs after taking a shower.
Guohua and Xue were seated at the table, tablets laid out, tea poured but untouched. This wasn't casual family time — it was a meeting.
Feng took the seat across from them.
"I'll give a brief rundown on how the meeting went," he said.
Guohua nodded once. Xue straightened slightly.
"Wen Yuning's intentions were largely as we expected," Feng continued evenly.
"What drew her attention was Silent Hands' core signal-processing layer — specifically the gesture interpretation pipeline. More precisely, the application of Adaptive Signal Compression combined with predictive reconstruction."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"Her team has been stalled on a project because they lack a reliable way to handle unstable, haphazard input in real time. With a proper implementation of this methodology, that bottleneck can be resolved."
Guohua gave a slow nod, understanding settling in.
"I see."
Feng nodded.
"She wants access to that methodology for her team's project," Feng continued.
"And not just licensing alone — she needs it integrated at the core."
Xue's fingers tightened briefly around her cup, then relaxed.
"And the terms?" she asked.
"I explained that Silent Hands' IP is under Blue Horizon's exclusive rights," Feng said.
"Any access to that methodology would have to go through a formal partnership. I was clear about that."
Guohua exhaled slowly, the tension in his shoulders easing.
"A partnership with the Wen Institute," he said quietly. "That gives us room to breathe."
"Yes," Feng replied. "Once it's public, the Li Group won't be able to lean on our suppliers or logistics without causing trouble for themselves."
Xue nodded, already following the implications.
"And beyond that," Guohua added, "their network. Their credibility. That opens doors we normally wouldn't reach."
Feng didn't comment — he didn't need to.
"She also asked that I be involved directly," Feng said.
"As a technical consultant. I agreed, provided the partnership goes through."
Guohua looked at Feng for a long moment.
Then he nodded firmly.
"That's more than enough," he said. "You did good. Thank you."
Xue smiled, a clean mix of relief and excitement.
"Leave the coordination to us," she said. "We'll handle Blue Horizon's side and get things moving."
Feng nodded and rose from his seat.
"I'll leave it to you," he said simply. "I have a few things to take care of."
Guohua watched him head for the stairs, his voice calm but firm.
"Go rest," he said. "We'll handle the rest."
Feng nodded once and headed upstairs.
Behind him, Guohua and Xue leaned closer, their voices dropping as the conversation shifted—no longer reflective, but practical.
What needed to be done was already clear.
---
Evening
Li Estate — Dining Hall
The Li Estate's dining hall was lively.
Warm light spilled over the long table, reflecting off polished wood and porcelain. Dishes arrived one after another, servants moving quietly as conversation flowed easily among the seated family members.
This wasn't a formal gathering.
It was a family dinner—the kind where confidence was worn easily and victories were discussed between bites.
Li Zhonghai sat at the head of the table, eating unhurriedly, letting the noise settle into a comfortable rhythm. Around him sat the other three branches—his children, their spouses and his grandchildren—voices overlapping, laughter rising and falling.
Li Guifen dabbed her lips lightly with a napkin and smiled.
"So," she said, glancing around the table, "how long do you think Blue y can keep pretending nothing's wrong?"
A few chuckles answered her.
Li Guotao lifted his glass slightly.
"Not long."
He took a sip, unhurried.
"A supplier hesitates. A delivery gets 'delayed.' Someone suddenly wants to review terms."
He smiled.
"That's usually when people start realizing how alone they are."
Li Guowei didn't smile, but there was satisfaction in his tone.
"They were warned," he said. "Repeatedly."
He reached for his tea.
"All they had to do was distance themselves from the Second Branch. They chose not to."
Someone further down the table laughed softly.
"So now they're paying for loyalty."
"Not loyalty," Guowei corrected evenly. "Stubbornness."
He set the cup down.
"It's never one big blow," a voice down the table said. "It's a dozen small inconveniences."
A brief pause.
"A delivery here. A supplier there. A contract that suddenly needs 'review.'"
Li Guifen smiled faintly.
"And after a while," she said,
"partners stop asking what's happening and start asking whether it's smart to stay involved at all."
Li Zhonghai listened, eyes half-lidded, expression unreadable.
"And the Second Branch?" he asked mildly.
Guowei replied with an easy confidence, as if the outcome had already been decided.
"They can't do anything about it," he said flatly. "They don't control the supply chain. They don't have the reach. And no one is going to step in for them—certainly not in public."
His tone wasn't sharp or heated.
It was assured.
The kind of certainty that came from believing the board was already tilted in his favor.
Around the table, several people nodded. Someone poured more wine. Another reached for a dish, relaxed.
It all felt… settled.
Li Han sat among them, posture straight, chopsticks moving slowly.
On the surface, he looked no different from anyone else—listening, eating, following the conversation.
But something in his chest felt tight—a faint sense of wrongness.
He replayed the words in his head.
Suppliers pulling out. Logistics slowing. Confidence cracking.
It all made sense. It's not the first time that the Li Group handled things in this way.
And yet—He was uneasy.
Blue Horizon hadn't broken.
They hadn't made the obvious move.
And they hadn't abandoned the Second Branch.
Li Han lowered his gaze to his bowl.
'They're just stubborn,' he told himself. 'Or stupid.'
That had to be it.
Li Feng… was capable. Dangerous, even.
But Li Feng was still just one person.
Here, at this table, were people who had run companies for decades. Who had crushed competitors without ever stepping into the light.
There was no reason to think this time would be different.
Still—
Li Han's grip on his chopsticks tightened slightly before he forced it to relax.
'You're overthinking,' he told himself. 'This is how it always goes.'
He glanced up.
Everyone else looked comfortable. Confident. Already discussing what would come after.
Li Zhonghai finally raised his glass.
"There's no need to rush," the patriarch said evenly.
"Pressure works best when it feels unavoidable."
His gaze swept the table.
"Let them struggle. When they finally make the right choice, we'll decide how generous to be."
Glasses were raised.
Laughter followed.
Li Han lifted his glass with the others.
He drank.
And told himself—again—that there was nothing to worry about.
That everything was unfolding exactly as it should.
Even if that small, quiet unease refused to go away.
---
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