"Mr. Niu Ke, are you home?" Qi Heng called out softly from Niu Ke's door.

"Who is it?" Niu Ke's voice carried a hint of impatience.

"It's me, Qi Heng. I have some things I'd like to ask you." Qi Heng tried his best to make his voice sound sincere and calm.

In the past, he would never have been so polite to a foreign businessman, but now, in order to obtain more secrets about Chen Yu and thwart his conspiracy, he had to lower himself.

"Qi Heng? Which Qi Heng?" Niu Ke asked in confusion. He had been too busy lately and really didn't remember anyone named Qi Heng.

“I am the deputy company commander of our militia regiment,” Qi Heng explained.

"Oh, so it's that corrupt official." Niu Ke suddenly realized, and said with a look of disgust, "You can leave now. I'm no longer the richest man on Earth. You won't get anything out of me."

"Mr. Niu Ke, you misunderstand. I really have something I want to ask you, and it's very urgent," Qi Heng said hurriedly.

Niu Kesi was getting a little impatient with Qi Heng's calls, so he had no choice but to let him in.

As soon as Qi Heng entered the door, several cats and dogs barked and bared their teeth at him.

Qi Heng's anger flared up instantly. He had been disliked by everyone in the camp for some time, and now these cats and dogs dared to bare their teeth at him. It was an utter disgrace.

He grabbed a broom, intending to swing it to scare away the unruly pets.

"Stop! If you dare to harm even a hair on their heads, Commander Chen will not let you off!" Niu Ke said urgently.

Upon hearing this, Qi Heng instantly regained his senses. He was angry, but it would be outrageous to take it out on these innocent little animals.

So he gently put down the broom and said with an embarrassed smile, "I didn't expect that in such freezing weather outside, these kittens and puppies would still be so energetic. It makes one marvel at the tenacity of life!"

"Mr. Newsk, where did you find these kittens and puppies?"

Upon hearing this, Niu Ke frowned. He was a smart man and naturally guessed that Qi Heng had joined Chen Yu's side for a purpose, and now that he had come to him, he obviously wanted to obtain some secret from him.

At this moment, faced with Qi Heng's question, he instantly became wary, wondering if Qi Heng had ulterior motives.

The origins of these cats and dogs are crucial to their discovery of the underground laboratory, and they absolutely cannot be told to Qi Heng.

So, Niu Ke's eyes darted around, and he casually said, "How would I know where they came from? I'm just looking after them for Commander Chen."

"What? You, the richest man on Blue Star, Commander Chen... Commander Chen actually made you feed his cats and dogs? This is simply... a waste of your talents!" Qi Heng said indignantly.

Seeing this, Niu Ke sneered inwardly. Although he ran a foreign company and didn't have many workplace politics, he had expanded his business to Great Xia in recent years and had witnessed plenty of the cutthroat competition in the Great Xia workplace. How could he not see through Qi Heng's clumsy attempt to sow discord?

However, he didn't expose him. Instead, he responded with a helpless and self-deprecating tone: "What can I do? I also need to eat. When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head!"

Upon hearing this, Qi Heng was overjoyed; there was hope!

He glanced at the snow house and quickly found another breakthrough.

Inside, on the dining table, there was a half-eaten steamed bun, a stark contrast to the fish and meat in the bowls of the cats and dogs.

“Mr. Niu Ke, I noticed that the food on your table is quite simple, while these cats and dogs are enjoying such lavish treatment. It’s just…it’s hard to believe.” Qi Heng deliberately added a touch of sympathy and incomprehension to his tone.

"Like a tiger fallen into the plains, there's nothing we can do," Niu Ke said with a wry smile.

"Hehe, Mr. Niu Ke is indeed the richest man in the world, he even knows our Great Xia's idioms." Qi Heng laughed.

"Deputy Company Commander Qi, don't talk nonsense. I don't understand your idioms." Niu Si Ke pretended to be very scared.

Qi Heng, filled with righteous indignation, said, "Even a tiger fallen into the plains is bullied by dogs. Brother Niu, there's no need to be afraid. I, Qi Heng, have wanted to say this for a long time. What is Chen Yu? It's one thing for him to bully me, but to humiliate you like this is unacceptable. You are the richest man on Blue Star! In his eyes, you're not even worth a few cats and dogs! He..."

"Ahem! Deputy Company Commander Qi, I'll pretend I didn't hear what you just said." Niu Si Ke coughed lightly, interrupting Qi Heng's impassioned speech, and said in a deep voice, "If it's not urgent, leave quickly, don't get yourself and others in trouble!"

Upon hearing this, Qi Heng chuckled inwardly. This Niu Ke was truly timid; he had only said a few bad things about Chen Yu and he was already so frightened.

However, he also knew that this matter could not be rushed and required more patience and wisdom to slowly penetrate Neusk's defenses.

So Qi Heng quickly adjusted his strategy and stopped pursuing the issue. Instead, he smiled and said, "Actually, it's nothing serious. I'm just a little curious. I heard that Brother Niu has been working day and night on some novel technologies lately. As you know, I used to be the Minister of the Armed Forces Department of the Academy of Sciences, and I've always been very interested in this area. If I have the chance, I would really like to ask Brother Niu for some advice."

Upon hearing this, Niu Ke's expression changed drastically, and he lowered his voice, saying, "These are things you shouldn't be asking about. Hurry up and leave, lest you get yourself into trouble!"

As he spoke, he pushed and pulled Qi Heng out of the room.

Qi Heng, who was kicked out of the snow house, was not angry or annoyed at all. Instead, he smiled knowingly with a slight upturn of his lips.

He knew that Newsk's strong reaction precisely indicated that he had touched upon core secrets.

Judging from Niu Ke's behavior just now, he must also deeply hate Chen Yu, but he had no choice but to swallow his anger because of Chen Yu's tyranny.

Qi Heng secretly pondered that he could use this to get closer to Niu Kesi and uncover the conspiracy behind Chen Yu, but this matter could not be rushed and required careful planning.

Then, he glanced meaningfully at Newsk's igloo again, turned and left.

…………

However, what Qi Heng didn't know was that as soon as he returned to his snow hut, Niu Si Ke went to find Chen Yu and told him the whole story.

"Old Chen, that's how it is. I think we can..."

"Let's turn the tables and use you as bait to extract information from Qi Heng," Chen Yu continued, picking up where Niu Ke had left off.

“That’s right, Old Chen, look at this matter…?” Niu Ke asked.

"Go ahead and do it with confidence, Lao Niu. I trust you to get things done!" Chen Yu patted Niu Skee on the shoulder, his eyes shining with trust and expectation.

…………