Chapter 100

Li Qiming detests Lu Xin, not only because he is a rival in love but also because of the ambiguous relationship between his sister Li Qingqing and Lu Xin!

Although his sister's marriage to the gay Huang Tingdao is very unfortunate, for the benefit of the Li family, she must endure this hardship. The reason why Chairman Jiang Zhenhua of the Sanjiang Group is inclined to marry his daughter Jiang Xueqing to Li Qiming is not only because Deputy Mayor Shen Yazhou is the brother of Li Qiming's stepmother Shen Yafang, but also because Li Qiming's sister Li Qingqing is married to the son of Deputy Mayor Huang. This political marriage makes the Li family appear very powerful and gives Li Qiming a bright future.

If the scandal between her and Lu Xin becomes widely known, and Li Qingqing divorces Huang Tingdao, the Li family will lose the connection to Deputy Mayor Huang, significantly weakening their influence.

Although Li Qiming deeply hates Lu Xin and wants to smash him with a notebook, he forces a friendly smile on his face: "Congratulations, Lu Xin! You must treat me to a meal so I can share in your good luck!"

He can control his emotions entirely due to the guidance of his father, Li Zhonggang. Yesterday, Li Zhonggang advised him: "Jiang Zhenhua still has room for advancement, but my career is already set. Therefore, you must seize the opportunity to marry Jiang Xueqing; this is the best way for you to surpass your elders. Since he is using a strategy to appear weak to buy time, you can also use a counter-strategy. On the surface, act as if you believe him, as if you have fallen for his trick, and show a magnanimous attitude, giving him some minor benefits to win Jiang Xueqing's favor. In reality, do not relax your guard against Lu Xin and strike him when he is off guard!"

Lu Xin knows that Li Qiming is just being polite and chuckles: "I would love to treat you to a meal, but you, Factory Director Li, have seen the world. If I order a bottle of Lafite, my money will be gone!"

Li Qiming forces a smile: "I was just joking; I wouldn't really make you treat me. Yes, you need to take leave. Alright, I approve it!"

He signs his name with a flourish on Lu Xin's leave application.

Seeing that Li Qiming's attitude is good, Lu Xin mentions the issue of his regularization and promotion: "Factory Director Li, in two months, I will have been at Sanjiang for a year. I haven't heard any news about my regularization and promotion evaluation. What do you think?"

"Regarding this issue," Li Qiming says in an official tone, "since Li Li and Liu Jianhui are still in the hospital, we should wait for your direct supervisors to return to their positions before starting your regularization and promotion evaluation."

Lu Xin thinks it makes sense; with his direct supervisors absent, the evaluation cannot proceed. He never expected that his anger, which injured Li Li and Liu Jianhui, would affect his regularization and promotion evaluation.

However, he then thinks that even if Li Li and Liu Jianhui recover and return to their positions, given their hostility towards him, they would not let him pass the evaluation smoothly.

Lu Xin can only say, "We will deal with it as it comes. There will be a way to handle those two scoundrels when the time comes!"

Lu Xin leaves Li Qiming's office, closing the door as per the rules before he leaves.

After Lu Xin closes the door and leaves, Li Qiming twirls the ring on his finger, staring coldly ahead and muttering to himself: "Du Haibin and Zhang Feng could have handled your regularization and promotion evaluation, but why should I help this guy? If it weren't for putting on a show for Jiang Xueqing, I would have fired him and gotten rid of him immediately!"

The office has excellent soundproofing, and Li Qiming is not worried that Lu Xin will hear his muttering.

After Lu Xin leaves, he recalls Li Qiming's extremely abnormal smile, a forced and ugly grin, and feels suspicious. Could Li Qiming have already seen through the strategy Shen Yafang told him?

He quietly stands at the door, peering through the aluminum door of the office.

Lu Xin's metal control ability includes the ability to see through metal and hear through metal.

Through the aluminum door, Lu Xin can clearly see Li Qiming's actions, his cold eyes, and confirms that Li Qiming has likely seen through his strategy of appearing weak to buy time. Li Qiming's hostility towards him has not diminished but has intensified. Lu Xin becomes wary and decides to be on high alert when dealing with Li Qiming in the future.

Through the aluminum door, Lu Xin can also clearly hear Li Qiming's muttering and can't help but smile. Yes, since he is in the equipment management department, Du Haibo is fully qualified to handle his regularization and promotion evaluation, and there is no need to wait for Liu Jianhui and Li Li to return.

With a clear plan in mind, Lu Xin turns and heads towards Deputy Factory Director Du Haibo's office. He finds the door locked and knocks for a long time with no response. He calls Du Haibo, but Du Haibo doesn't answer and instead sends a text message saying he is at the group headquarters for a meeting on equipment management and will return to the factory in the afternoon.

Lu Xin wants to claim his lottery prize early, so he returns to his single apartment to change clothes, takes a taxi, and heads straight to the Jiangzhou Sports Lottery Center.

As he is about to arrive at the lottery center, Lu Xin suddenly thinks that since he is already at the lottery center, he might as well try his metal-penetrating ability at a nearby lottery store, scratch more tickets, and win more money at once.

Since gaining his metal control ability, Lu Xin's personality has become more decisive. He acts on his thoughts without hesitation.

He immediately pays and gets out of the taxi, heading towards the nearest lottery store.

At the roadside in front of the lottery store, Lu Xin leans against the iron railing separating the road from the sidewalk, pretending to wait for a ride. His hands grip the railing tightly, absorbing the metal energy from it.

At this moment, Lu Xin only considers the benefits of absorbing metal energy for himself, forgetting that once the metal energy in the railing is completely absorbed, the internal metal structure becomes extremely sparse, significantly reducing its strength and hardness. If any vehicle loses control on the road, it will easily crash through the railing and hit pedestrians on the sidewalk, causing a serious traffic accident.

Perhaps due to the absorption of metal energy or his long history of being trampled on, Lu Xin's heart has become increasingly cold and ruthless. He is likely to become a villain who believes in the principle of "I would rather betray the world than let the world betray me."

After absorbing sufficient metal energy, Lu Xin steps into the lottery store. He first observes the owner, a woman, whom he should call "boss lady." Compared to the previous owner Miao Guangnian, this boss lady has a calm gaze, not as shifty as Miao Guangnian's, and her smile is warm and her demeanor steady. She seems to be content with a steady 8% profit and would not engage in underhanded tactics like Miao Guangnian. Lu Xin feels at ease buying lottery tickets from her.

"Boss lady, I will definitely buy lottery tickets from you," Lu Xin takes out ten hundred-yuan notes from his backpack, places them on the table, and smiles at the boss lady. "However, I have a habit. When playing scratch-off tickets, I like to look at the tickets first to see which ones catch my eye. Could you please take out all your scratch-off tickets and spread them on the table for me to see?"