Chapter 21: Basic Equestrian Mastery

"You slut, you shameless bitch!"

"How old are you? Have you no shame? I knew this woman wasn't good, what a wicked person!"

"Look closely, kid. Stay far away from her in the future. She'd throw away her dignity just to look fairer—so shameless! How did I not notice she was such a man-eater before? Pfft!"

In the internet cafe, the two were playing a duo match. While operating the game, Yuan Meng was cursing away; the reason was that Liu Ruyan's final move had truly caused the eldest Miss Yuan to lose her cool.

It wasn't that she liked Lin Mo, but rather that she couldn't stand the way Liu Ruyan flirted with men. That "pitiful and lovely" aura was something Miss Yuan simply didn't possess.

With her petite frame, the most she could do was act spoiled like a minor; she could never pull off that kind of posture.

Since she already disliked the woman, she was determined that Liu Ruyan wouldn't get her hands on the secret formula from Lin Mo this time. Sooner or later, she would turn her into a haggard housewife, and then she could die of anger just like she was now.

"Sister Yuan, President Liu is actually alright..."

"Say that again?"

"Ahem, but she's nowhere near as good as you, Sister Yuan. Don't worry, what kind of relationship could I possibly have with her? My internship ends next week. Once I go back to school, we won't even see each other, okay!" Lin Mo quickly corrected himself.

Although the "Empress Ruyan" had a bad reputation in various web novels, this was reality, and she was truly beautiful. That small face, that figure—she was the quintessential "older sister" type of female lead.

Legal lolis were fine, but older sisters were much more fragrant. That's right, Lin Mo preferred mature women.

Hearing this, Yuan Meng felt much more relieved. There were only a few days left anyway, and with the holidays coming up tomorrow and the day after, Lin Mo would only be at work for a few more days next week. As long as she kept a close eye on him, she didn't believe Liu Ruyan could get what she wanted.

The two fought their way through the match and finally climbed to a higher rank.

At eleven o'clock at night, Yuan Meng stood up, stretched, and said, "I'm exhausted. Sigh, I'm really getting old; my vital energy is lacking. Come on, let's go get some acupuncture?"

"Huh? Sister Yuan, if you're not feeling well, go tomorrow. Why go for acupuncture in the middle of the night?" Lin Mo asked, puzzled.

Even though hospitals were open 24 hours, was it really necessary to go for acupuncture at this hour?

Then he heard Yuan Meng say softly, "Mmm~ the kind with the little needles, the ones served with beef and mutton."

Lin Mo:...

So it really was the kind of "acupuncture" you could only do late at night. He had certainly learned something new.

If she was hungry, she should have just said so. Why all this elaborate nonsense?

Soon, the two left the internet cafe and found a nearby barbecue stall, ordering a table full of food to feast on.

Actually, he wasn't that hungry. After all, when Yuan Meng and Liu Ruyan were bickering this afternoon, he couldn't get a word in and could only eat on the sidelines.

But the eldest Miss Yuan was hungry. She had been so focused on confronting the Empress Ruyan that she forgot to eat much. Plus, fearing that Liu Ruyan would target the secret formula in Lin Mo's hands, the two had practically fled halfway through their meal. If she wasn't hungry, it would be a miracle.

"Sister Yuan, what did you mean by what you said to Empress Ruyan this afternoon? Is the company planning some big move?" Lin Mo asked while eating.

Even though he was leaving soon, curiosity got the better of him. Moreover, since Fatty Dong had been acting so unprofessionally today, he wanted to know if there would be retribution.

"Hmm? Didn't you hear it from the side? Why are you asking me?" Yuan Meng replied, looking speechless and completely unable to understand his question.

"I... I just didn't quite grasp it," Lin Mo said with a bitter smile.

He was just a college student who hadn't even graduated yet, from an average background. He had never experienced such brain-twisting matters.

Hearing this, Yuan Meng sneered. She pulled out a tissue to wipe the grease from the crayfish off her fingers and said

"To put it simply, Liu Ruyan's family feels she is ready now. They want her to come over for independent training and, while she's at it, resolve the issues with this small company.

Our company's General Manager, Yang Chuan, is an old hand who used to work under Liu Ruyan's father. If Uncle Liu were to step in personally, it would be too absolute and inevitably somewhat heartless. Liu Ruyan, however, doesn't have those constraints.

Even though Liu Ruyan hasn't been coming to the office lately, she has already begun investigating privately. She knows what happened in the company today; she intentionally let Yang Chuan and the others stir up trouble. If nothing goes wrong, there will soon be a major purge of the company's management. As for Fatty Dong, he certainly won't escape!"

Hearing this, Lin Mo was amazed. They were going to purge the management? How did she figure that out?

"Uh, Sister Yuan, let me ask—what exactly is wrong with our company?"

He really couldn't see it. Although he was just an intern and the pay wasn't much, the salary was paid on time every month, and the company seemed quite harmonious.

"Profits are declining, and input costs are increasing, yet the partners are all normal—in fact, the volume of business has even increased. What do you think?" Yuan Meng asked back.

Lin Mo shook his head. "I don't know."

"Stupid. The partners are normal and the business revenue hasn't dropped, but the company's profit has decreased. Someone must be skimming off the top.

In a company, it's normal for management to have some extra income; sometimes even the higher-ups turn a blind eye as long as you bring enough profit to the company. It doesn't matter if you take a little for yourself. But clearly, someone in our company has developed a bigger appetite..."

Yuan Meng took a bite of a mutton skewer and continued

"As for why Liu Ruyan didn't care despite knowing what happened today, it's because if she truly takes over the company, cutting employee salaries would actually be a good thing for her. Most importantly, someone else plays the villain, so it has nothing to do with her. At worst, she can just restore the salaries later to win people's hearts. Understand?"

Lin Mo nodded. Now he understood. To put it bluntly, it was a matter of where one's interests lay. He still had a typical student mindset, whereas Liu Ruyan was already a qualified capitalist.

After they finished their quick meal, Yuan Meng drove him home. Before leaving, she specifically instructed him to contact her immediately if Liu Ruyan tried anything funny over the next two days.

Seeing this, Lin Mo could only agree helplessly.

By the time he got home, it was nearly one in the morning. Lin Mo couldn't wait to open his phone for his exciting daily shopping session.

[Mingguang Armor, one set of heavy armor; ￥23.5]

[75-inch Ultra-HD Smart LCD TV; ￥11.5]

[Junior Equestrian Mastery; 60 minutes of horse stance, guaranteed to learn; ￥3.12]

[One carton of Furongwang cigarettes; ￥5.9]

"Damn, another pile of trash."

Scanning the list, Lin Mo couldn't help but spit.

The quality of the items refreshed over the last two days had been mediocre. Especially since he now held a massive fortune, even so-called gold looked unimpressive to him unless the weight was enormous.

The armor was out; although it looked cool, he wasn't an armor enthusiast. As for the TV, forget it—he was still renting an apartment; why buy a TV?

As for the cigarettes, that was just filler junk.

The only thing left was Junior Equestrian Mastery, but that one hour of horse stance was truly an insult to him.

After thinking for a moment, he took his phone into the bathroom and sat on the toilet.

As the payment went through successfully, Lin Mo happily opened Douyin to kill time.

He had become quite a regular user: legs during the day, ghosts at night, "Aodubiao" on sunny days, and blacksmithing videos when it rained.

"Pay attention, this man is called Xiao Shuai. Not long ago, he and his girlfriend Xiao Mei..."

(End of Chapter)