"Brother, you're back?"
As soon as Chen Mo stepped into the villa in Binhai City, Xiao Man, who was lounging in the living room playing games with the robot, looked up in surprise.
"Yeah," Chen Mo replied, scanning the hall. "Where's Xiaoyu?"
"She's taking a shower in the room," Xiao Man said, then spotted the two suitcases he was carrying. "Brother, where's my gift?"
"So impatient." Chen Mo chuckled, unzipping one of the suitcases and pulling out a gift bag. "Here—this one's for you."
"Thanks, Brother-in-law!" Xiao Man snatched the bag happily. "I'll go open it in my room now. Don't worry, I won't disturb your little couple reunion. She doesn't even know you're back yet—hope your short separation doesn't spark a wedding night."
With that, she giggled and dashed off, bags in hand.
Chen Mo shook his head and rolled the suitcases into the bedroom.
"Xiao Man, can you bring me my nightgown?" a voice called from the bathroom as soon as he entered the room.
Xiaoyu must have heard him come in.
Without a word, Chen Mo grabbed a nightgown from the closet and quietly stepped into the bathroom. Through the rising steam, he could faintly see Xiaoyu's silhouette.
Smiling mischievously, he crept up and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Ah—!" Startled, Xiaoyu screamed, then quickly relaxed when she saw the familiar hands. Surprise turned into joy. "You're back!"
"Did you miss me?" Chen Mo asked as he pulled her into a warm hug.
"Every day," she said softly, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Why didn't you call and let me know?"
"I wanted to surprise you."
"Not a surprise—it scared me just now! You need to be punished. Help me with my bath."
"Oh? This is a punishment?"
"Of course. What, you won't accept the punishment?"
"I accept. Happily."
Soon, the steamy bathroom turned even warmer. Half an hour later, Chen Mo carried a flushed and shy Xiaoyu out of the bathroom and laid her gently on the bed.
It took her a few moments to recover her strength.
"You're terrible," she muttered.
"And yet," Chen Mo smiled, "the bad guy comes bearing gifts."
He changed into comfortable clothes, then pulled out a bunch of bags from the suitcase and set them in front of Xiaoyu.
"So many?" she said, eyes sparkling despite her tiredness.
With a smile, she began opening them one by one, until her hands froze on one particular bag.
"This... you really bought this?" she said, holding up the delicate lingerie inside. "You're not joking?"
"You liked it, so I bought it for you."
Xiaoyu burst into giggles. "Color preference too, huh? You little wolf."
"You laugh, but I was this close to being recognized! That shop... it was awkward as hell. If someone had figured out who I was, my public image would've been toast. Thank goodness I'm clever."
"Thank you, hubby." Xiaoyu leaned over and kissed his cheek.
"Don't mess up your gifts. I'll dry your hair."
Chen Mo pulled out the hairdryer from the drawer and began gently drying her hair while Xiaoyu sat quietly on the bed, still opening her presents, joy written all over her face.
The next morning, Chen Mo and Xiaoyu had breakfast before heading to the company. Shortly after Chen Mo arrived at the office, Zhao Min walked in.
"Musk contacted me yesterday," she said. "He wants us to authorize the smart code of Little Ant. I refused."
"He mentioned it to me during the AI conference too," Chen Mo replied. "Wanted me to invest in Tesla. But the valuation was too high, so I turned him down. I told him to talk to you if he wanted the Little Ant system."
"Tesla's under pressure right now. The factory's not fully operational, the company's bleeding cash, and the privatization valuation Musk wants is a stretch. Honestly, it's a bit of a gamble."
"How did things go in the capital?"
"Quite well. Everything's in motion. Someone should be reaching out to us soon. You'll need to prepare."
Chen Mo nodded. The simulation data on nuclear fusion had already been handed to Li Chengzhi. Now, they were just waiting on an official response.
"Did the tech really work?" Zhao Min asked.
"I holed myself up in Building 1 for over a month working on it," Chen Mo said. "The simulation was a success. That's why I had the confidence to give the data to Li Chengzhi. That data is our biggest bargaining chip."
"You mean the test succeeded?" she said, eyes widening.
"Yep. The simulation worked the afternoon before I left for the capital."
"You're insane," Zhao Min muttered. "Do you have some kind of superbrain or what?"
"Ah, you've seen through me," Chen Mo joked. "I really do have a superbrain. I was thinking of joining that 'Super Brain' variety show—you know, the memory challenge one. I could win the whole thing just for fun."
Zhao Min rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. But what about real-world application? Can the tech actually be used?"
"You're getting ahead of yourself. Simulation success is just the beginning. We still need to build a prototype reactor to confirm actual output. The transition from model to physical device takes time—and we'll definitely hit unexpected challenges during testing. Until we can confirm a sustained net energy output from a real experiment, the technology's not ready for commercial use."
"In any case," Zhao Min said seriously, "we need to be extremely careful. This is huge. Too huge. There's no way they'll let a private company keep control of something like this. No matter how we look at it, it's inevitable. You need to be mentally prepared."
"I've been ready since I started the research," Chen Mo replied calmly. "No country would let private hands control this tech. From the beginning, I accepted that this cake is too big for me to eat alone. Collaboration is the only realistic way forward."
He paused.
"The government is the best umbrella. I have no reason to refuse."
Money was now only a figure for him, he just wants to make the Star Ring soon. It was the final task to complete before entering the next stage of the Library of Science and Technology.
Chen Mo nodded.
"Just don't let yourself get caught off guard. So tell me, what's our bottom line if we go into cooperation?"
"We aim for maximum benefit," Chen Mo said. "But 51% is impossible. We hold our bottom line at 49%. From there, we negotiate upward."
"Got it," Zhao Min replied. "Now that the simulation's done, are you more free these days?"
"More or less," Chen Mo said. "It's not urgent anymore, but I still need to optimize the tech and work on synthesizing new materials for [Star Ring]. Next step is discussing cooperation. Once that's done, I need to prepare for the wedding with Xiaoyu. So yeah, a bit easier now."
"Then don't forget—my wedding dress," Zhao Min teased. "You're the designer, remember? And I'll reward you after."
Chen Mo's brow twitched. "What kind of reward?"
"My first kiss."
"Forget the reward. I'll design it for free," Chen Mo said, already sweating. "You're scaring me off now."
"If you don't design it before your wedding with Xiaoyu, I'll definitely give it to you," Zhao Min grinned.
"I…"
Chen Mo was both amused and exasperated.
Zhao Min's getting bolder by the day. He couldn't tell if she was joking anymore. It was giving him a headache.
"Alright, I'm kidding," Zhao Min laughed. "I'll go prep for the negotiations. We need a clear plan."
And with that, she turned and left the office, still chuckling.