Mr. Xu's good mood vanished the next day when he arrived at the company.

He was even a little angry.

Because the person sitting in front of him being summoned for a talk was not the engineering department director he wanted to see—Jiang Fengshan.

As a veteran of three dynasties of "Snake Ring", the other party has been working diligently in the group since Xu Shi's grandfather's generation.

Given his status, even though he knew beforehand that the old man was somewhat biased, Xu Shi was still willing to give him some face and sit down for a proper talk.

The other party readily agreed at first, but when the time came, he found out that the guy had suddenly fallen ill and stood him up at the last minute.

That's really taking advantage of someone's kindness.

"Miss Jiang Chengcheng, do you really think you have the right to speak to me on behalf of your adoptive father?!"

He tried his best to control his anger and not vent it on the woman in front of him, but he still couldn't help himself.

Jiang Fengshan's adopted daughter is also a member of the "Snake Ring" engineering department, and her resume is quite impressive... but that's not what he's concerned about right now.

He knew the old man was just fooling him, and that made him quite unhappy.

"I...I...If Chairman Xu has any instructions, I...I can convey them to you..."

Jiang Chengcheng answered hesitantly, "My father did indeed fall seriously ill... If it's an engineering or technical issue, I already submitted a report to you yesterday..."

Clearly, she was intimidated by Xu Shi's aura.

Her head was bowed low, her legs were tightly pressed together, and she stammered, unable to speak.

She wasn't very good at dressing up—the oversized work clothes looked awkward on her, and her messy braids and black-rimmed glasses that took up most of her face made her look quite old-fashioned.

Honestly, under normal circumstances, I probably wouldn't even give a second glance to a girl like that.

But what the other person said suddenly caught his attention, "You said... that equipment usage feedback, you wrote it?"

He was deeply impressed; when he saw it last night, the signature wasn't hers, but Jiang Fengshan's.

"Yes, I wrote it..."

Jiang Chengcheng was somewhat at a loss upon hearing this. "Yes, is there a problem? Please, please tell me, and I'll go and fix it..."

"If you wrote it, why is it signed with your adoptive father's name?"

Xu Shi gradually calmed down and frowned as he asked.

"this……"

Jiang Chengcheng was startled, then turned her face away in a flustered manner.

She clearly realized that she had inadvertently let something slip.

"tell me."

Xu Shi forced her to meet his gaze, "How long has this been going on?"

"...Just this once..."

Jiang Chengcheng bit her lip, trying to brush it off, "My father wasn't feeling well yesterday, so I helped him out..."

"I'll give you one more chance."

Xu Shi interrupted her directly, "If I'm not mistaken, Miss Jiang, you didn't do these things voluntarily, did you?"

"No, no, it was all my own choice..."

Jiang Chengcheng tried her best to explain.

"So you're admitting this isn't the first time, right?"

Xu Shi smiled and stood up, walking slowly toward her. "Then why not tell the truth? I hate dishonest people."

Seeing this, Jiang Chengcheng instinctively curled up even more and closed her eyes tightly. "Please don't hit me, it's all my fault..."

Everyone knows Xu Shi's reputation. According to the version she knows, he is a psychopath who routinely beats and scolds his subordinates.

This made her even more afraid.

However, the imagined scene did not occur.

Xu Shi simply placed his hand on her shoulder, then lowered his voice and whispered, "Does Miss Jiang really want to be your adoptive father's puppet for the rest of her life?"

"True talent should shine brighter, rather than having their research achievements taken away by others and their glory enjoyed by others."

"You'll even have to endure his long-term abuse... Are you really willing to continue like this?"

Actually, even a minute ago he wasn't entirely sure about the last point; maybe the girl in front of him was just socially awkward.

But the other party's subconscious reaction just now confirmed his guess.

As for the rest... he already understood about 70-80% of it when Jiang Chengcheng let it slip.

This surprised and delighted him.

I thought I was just catching a small fry... no, I thought it would just be a simple meeting, but I never expected to catch such a big fish.

Good riddance, you old man.

Xu Shi's words were like sharp blades, piercing Jiang Chengcheng's heart.

Because the facts are basically the same as what he said.

As an orphan adopted by Jiang Fengshan, she was originally very grateful to him.

After all, he was the one who led her out of the misery of the orphanage and provided her with excellent living conditions and a good education.

She did not disappoint her father's expectations, and graduated with excellent grades in mechanical engineering. She then joined the "Snake Ring" group where her father worked.

At that time, she sincerely hoped that she could become her father's right-hand man.

However, things didn't go as she expected. The incident stemmed from a research report.

Jiang Fengshan approached her with the report, claiming he wanted to discuss it with her... She was naturally happy to do so and earnestly helped him correct the errors and omissions in the report.

However, when the report was submitted to the group, her name was not among the signatories.

She didn't take it seriously at first, thinking her father might have been negligent... but as such incidents occurred more and more frequently, she began to realize that something was wrong.

This was clearly academic plagiarism... but when she confronted Jiang Fengshan about it, she was met with a beating.

"I originally raised you to help you enter social circles, but who knew you didn't have the talent for it."

The kind elder finally revealed his fangs, "Fortunately, you still have some value, and I haven't let you down."

After the truth was laid bare, the other party stopped pretending and forced her to conduct a lot of technological research and development, then comfortably put his own name on these achievements.

Every time they tried to resist, they were met with even more brutal abuse than before.

This is how she spent those five years in "Snake Ring"—unwilling, yet forced to become a tool in the other party's hands.

This experience caused her immense suffering, not only physically but also, over time, she developed a severe mental illness, requiring her to rely on large amounts of medication for relief.

The young girl, in the prime of her life, has turned into this颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of decadence, listlessness, and dejection) state.

But she had no way to seek help—she had never had any friends growing up, and the engineering department was Jiang Fengshan's territory, so even if she sensed something, no one dared to say anything.

She can't even bring herself to complain.

She never expected that in the end, it would be Xu Shi who exposed everything.

"Then tell me, Miss Jiang, what is your choice?"