From Wage Slave to Tycoon

He took two sips before looking at the two of them and asking, "By the way... it’s only the seventh day of the New Year. Why aren’t you two at home celebrating? What are you doing here?"

Upon hearing this, the two exchanged a look before Jiangyang spoke up. "We probably won’t be in the Imperial Capital after the New Year."

"Huh?" Su Chen put down his teacup in surprise. "Not in the Imperial Capital? Where are you going? You’re not planning to go abroad, are you?"

"How could we possibly go abroad? Are you trying to get us killed or something?" Chen Yao said, a little exasperated.

Hearing this, Su Chen grew even more confused. Just as he was about to ask, Jiangyang spoke up to clarify.

"People of our generation basically can’t go abroad. As for where we’re going... the family is arranging for us to go out and get some experience. We don’t know the specifics yet."

Su Chen wasn’t particularly curious about them going out for training. After all, Jiangyang and the others were the pillars of the new generation in their respective families, so it was certain they would be thoroughly tempered.

What he was curious about was why people like them couldn’t easily go abroad. Su Chen casually voiced his confusion.

"It’s actually quite simple. Once you’re abroad, things are out of your control. If someone with ulterior motives were to set a trap, they could easily get you thrown in prison. You’d most likely become a bargaining chip in negotiations, and that would affect not just our families, but more importantly, the nation’s interests."

With that explanation, Su Chen understood. After all, such incidents were quite common; it was just that the people involved were usually not from the same high-status stratum as Jiangyang and his friends.

The three of them tacitly moved on from the topic, starting to chat about their post-New Year training. They would most likely be sent to the grassroots level for a while before being transferred to other positions.

Time quickly passed until noon, and Jiangyang and Chen Yao showed no signs of leaving. They planned to spend the whole day at Su Chen’s place. After all, if they went home, they’d just be watching other people pay New Year’s visits, which they found incredibly dull.

Resigned, Su Chen had no choice but to ask Aunt Tang to make a few extra dishes for lunch. "I have to say, you guys come over to visit without bringing any gifts, and now you’re freeloading a meal. Aren’t you afraid of losing face as you two young masters if word gets out?"

Jiangyang, lounging on a chair, skillfully popped a cherry into his mouth and said, "Don’t be like that. We’re all brothers here. Why would we need to bring gifts?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Chen Yao chimed in from the side.

Seeing this, Su Chen sighed in resignation.

Earlier, when the two of them ordered Jiang Hui to go buy fruit and prepare a fruit platter, they did it with such casual authority it made Su Chen feel as if Jiangyang and Chen Yao were the real masters of this courtyard house.

...

Jiang Hui walked over quickly from the dining hall. Stopping in front of the pavilion, he said softly, "Sir, lunch is ready!"

Su Chen nodded slightly, then turned to Jiangyang and Chen Yao. "Let’s go. My stomach is GROWLING."

Just as the three of them stood up, a deep voice came from the Hanging Flower Gate. "Arriving early is no match for arriving at the right time. Are you all about to eat?"

Hearing the familiar voice, they all turned to look at the gate. They saw Xiao Chen walking quickly toward them, carrying a black briefcase.

"Brother Chen!" the three of them chorused.

As he got closer, Xiao Chen noticed Jiangyang and Chen Yao standing next to Su Chen. He looked at them with some surprise and asked, "What are you two doing here visiting instead of celebrating the New Year at home?"

"Well, we’re heading out of town after the New Year, and you know how crowded it gets at home. So we figured we’d come over to Su Chen’s place to freeload a bit."

Xiao Chen didn’t say anything more to that. He was about to fiddle with the briefcase in his hand, but then seemed to think of something and quickly changed the subject. "Let’s eat. I’m starving."

Aunt Tang’s home-cooked dishes suited everyone’s tastes perfectly, and they all ate with great gusto.

Jiangyang even took the opportunity to get Su Chen to bring out several bottles of aged wine. In his words, "You don’t even drink this stuff, Su Chen. It’s a waste to let it sit here."

After several rounds of drinks and plenty of food, Jiangyang and Chen Yao, feeling a bit dizzy, went to a guest room to rest.

"Let’s find a quiet place to talk," Xiao Chen said, patting his briefcase.

Su Chen understood instantly. He called out to Chen Fei, telling him to keep an eye on Jiangyang and Chen Yao, then led Xiao Chen directly down to the basement.

As soon as they sat down, Xiao Chen was about to light an after-dinner cigarette. Seeing this, Su Chen pulled a pack from his pocket and tossed it on the table. "Brother Chen, smoke these."

When Xiao Chen saw the white pack of cigarettes, his hands froze. After shooting Su Chen an annoyed glare, he nonchalantly picked up the pack, took out one cigarette, and then casually slipped the pack into his own pocket.

"You still haven’t finished that carton from before?" Xiao Chen asked after exhaling a cloud of smoke.

"It’s finished. I gave the last two packs to my dad over the New Year."

"Then what’s this?" Xiao Chen gestured with the cigarette in his hand. But in the next second, it dawned on him. He sat up straighter, his eyes wide with surprise as he looked at Su Chen. "You got these from Elder Xiao."

"Yup. I grabbed a bunch when I left." Su Chen didn’t hide it. After all, Elder Xiao would surely tell him about it when he got back.

Hearing this, Xiao Chen started smoking his cigarette even faster.

After a long moment, Xiao Chen finally spoke. "Sometimes I really wonder if you’re his biological grandson or if I am. It’s a huge struggle for me to get even one pack, but you... sigh..."

The thought made Xiao Chen even more dejected.

Su Chen looked at Xiao Chen’s gloomy expression, smiled without saying anything, and got up to walk toward his collection room.

A moment later, Su Chen came back out holding a carton of the white-pack cigarettes.

"Here, for you. I’ll probably be troubling you a lot after the New Year."

Seeing the carton on the table, Xiao Chen snatched it without a second word and stuffed it into his briefcase. A smile appeared on his face. "You’re a true friend. So tell me, how much did you get from Elder Xiao this time?"

He even added, "I promise I won’t get jealous."

A smile touched the corners of Su Chen’s lips. He held up his right hand, all five fingers spread.

"Five cartons?" Xiao Chen shot to his feet. But then he remembered what he had just said and felt like slapping himself.

With a wry smile, he said, "I can’t believe Elder Xiao was so generous. What on earth did you do to him?"

’If I told him about the other things I took,’ Su Chen thought, ’Xiao Chen would probably try to kill me.’

"Sigh... let’s get down to business," Xiao Chen said after a long sigh, his expression turning serious.

Su Chen knew what he was about to talk about and couldn’t help but sit up straight from his half-reclined position.

Xiao Chen took a stack of documents and a small red booklet from his briefcase.

"Take a look at this first," Xiao Chen said, handing over the small red booklet.

Su Chen gave him a surprised look before taking the red booklet from his hand.

"Whoa, ’Technical Advisor to the Security Department.’ Well now, are you guys planning to ’recruit’ me?" Su Chen said teasingly.

"It’s all because your skills are so good. After a preliminary assessment by professionals, the information you provided was confirmed to be authentic, so I reported your situation to the higher-ups."

"But don’t worry, they basically won’t bother you with anything unless something extremely difficult comes up." Xiao Chen was quite confident about this.

After all, Huaxia’s hacking capabilities were plain to see, ranking third in the world. There were even individual hackers who had reached the pinnacle of the global stage.

As for how strong Su Chen’s skills truly were, the higher-ups weren’t sure. After all, no one had ever managed to single-handedly hack into the Bald Eagle’s equipment database before.

Originally, the Security Department wanted to forcibly recruit Su Chen, but after Xiao Chen brought up Elder Xiao’s name, they decisively offered him an advisory position instead.

"Oh, right. What about my USB drive?" Su Chen suddenly remembered that the source code for his firewall was still on it.

"Ahem... it might not be coming back for a while."

In his mind, Xiao Chen was cursing out those technicians. When they saw the firewall source code on the USB drive, it was as if they had discovered a new world. They immediately confiscated the drive.

They claimed the technology on it was critically important for national cybersecurity. They could do without Su Chen the person, they said, but the USB drive was never coming back.

Seeing Xiao Chen’s expression, how could Su Chen not understand what had happened? He shook his head in resignation and gestured with the red booklet in his hand.

"Forget it. Just consider the USB drive a return gift."