62 The Vanished Seventh Giant
That night, Chu Xiao returned to the Jian family's old house.
After brutally beating six sandbags and chopping down more than a dozen ice sculpture training targets at the martial arts gym, she walked menacingly to the crystal rooftop on the 50th floor, wearing diamond and gold flip-flops, to contemplate life.
So why did Chu Xiao insist on going to the rooftop to think instead of going to the study, the bedroom, or the swimming pool (not really)?
This brings us to her unique childhood.
As we know from the previous text, Chu Xiao has been recognized as the "leader of the kids" since childhood. But just like the protagonist's path to becoming a king in all novels is inevitably hindered by a nemesis, she also has a destined rival—Qian Xiaopang, who has always been eyeing her position as the leader.
Qian Xiaopang comes from a good family, is quick-witted, and can even use his chubby physique to withstand her family's martial arts in a fight.
If Qian Xiaopang hadn't been a transfer student with the inherent advantage of being a "local," it's hard to say who would have become the leader.
Therefore, Xiao Chuxiao felt an overwhelming sense of crisis.
In order to crush his arch-rival, while his peers were still watching shows like "A Shuai" and "Honey 100%", 10-year-old Chu Xiao was already reading "Why are 99% of CEOs not as smart as Kant? The difference is this starry sky".
As the title suggests, this book teaches people how to improve their wisdom.
The book cites many famous philosophers, such as Kant, Denis, and Zeus, saying that they suddenly realized the truth while gazing at the stars.
When Chu Xiao was 12 years old, he devoured this 300,000-word masterpiece and wholeheartedly agreed with it.
It might be a coincidence that one person gains enlightenment from stargazing, but if a group of people gain enlightenment from stargazing, then it shows that stargazing is a scientific and enlightening method!
From then on, she firmly believed that gazing at the stars equals a boost in intelligence.
Although she believes she's smart enough, who doesn't want more intelligence? Just like her allowance, the more the better.
In this way, Chu Xiao developed the habit of gazing at the stars and thinking.
Whenever she needs to think deeply, she chooses a place in her current environment that is closest to the stars, imitating philosophers' dialogue with the universe and receiving an infusion of cosmic wisdom.
...
Gusts of wind howled across the rooftop, making Chu Xiao's nose itch.
She calmly pulled a pack of tissues from her coat pocket and deftly blew her nose.
She paused, glanced casually at the surveillance camera behind her, then crumpled the tissue into two small balls and carefully stuffed them into her nostrils.
Great, that perfectly solves the runny nose problem!
Now I can finally concentrate on gazing at the stars.
Chu Xiao clapped his hands in satisfaction as he put the remaining tissues back into his pocket.
She looked up and found that the night sky was swallowed by thick clouds, with neither moonlight nor starlight.
This reminded Chu Xiao of Jian's father's car accident—
The truth is also obscured by layers of darkness, and the few clues that exist are like the occasional glimmer of light shining through a gap in the clouds, fleeting and ephemeral.
Chu Xiao's gaze darkened slightly.
The horrific impact shown in the surveillance footage was clearly aimed at killing Jane's father.
Who could it be?
Who has such an irreconcilable grudge against Jian's father that they would want to kill him?
Who has the ability to bribe a long-time employee who has served the Jian family for decades, and then so cleanly and efficiently silence them afterwards?
She carefully recalled the entire novel's plot and was certain that Jane's father had never encountered such an accident in the original work.
And even in the extra chapters, that old man would occasionally pop up and annoy Jian Bing.
In the original novel, all the troubles that Jian Bing and her men encountered were orchestrated by the three Wang brothers.
Even if she doesn't bring the original villains under her wing, according to the original timeline, they are still in the early stages of development and, even if they have the idea of causing trouble, they don't have the ability to do so.
Chu Xiao gently twirled the blood diamond on his thumb, lost in thought.
It seems that the world has automatically filled in the characters' backgrounds, and many more exciting stories are unfolding beyond the novel's plot that she knows.
"Buzz—"
My phone vibrated twice, and the screen lit up with a message from Wang Xue:
[Biographical information on Mr. Jian Dong has been compiled (including encrypted files)]
[Attachment: Jian Aotian Character Analysis.zip]
Chu Xiao immediately straightened her back and opened the file with the rigorous attitude of researching academic papers.
The first page turned out to be a high-definition nude photo.
Jane's father, in his fifties, wearing leopard-print swim trunks, was embracing two voluptuous bikini-clad beauties on the yacht deck, making a peace sign. The fat on his belly glistened in the sunlight.
A line of artistic text was photoshopped into the corner of the photo: "Happy Birthday, Brother Aotian~"
"..."
Resisting the urge to close it, she scrolled to the second page.
The second page was even more amazing!
In the photo, Jane's father is seen with a bunny girl wearing a bunny ear headband and a tight sequined red leather skirt on his left, and a cat girl wearing a cat ear headband and a tight sequined purple leather skirt on his right.
His shirt was unbuttoned up to his navel, revealing chest hair covered in glitter and a passionate lip print.
Chu Xiao closed her eyes and trembled as she scrolled to the third, fourth, and fifth pages... After scrolling through more than twenty pages, she felt her hands getting sore, and finally reached Jian Aotian's legitimate business files, excluding the nude photos.
The densely packed acquisition list resembled a trophy display.
In March of year x, it acquired Juweitang, the largest seasoning factory in South China, for a low price of 720 million yuan, and rebranded it as Jianweitang before listing it on the stock exchange; in June of year xx, after acquiring a controlling stake in Huangmai Flour, it immediately cut off supplies to competitors, leading to a major reshuffle in the baking industry that year; from year xxx to year xxxx, it successively acquired more than a dozen local food brands in North China, shelved them all, and then launched the Jianji series...
Chu Xiao continued scrolling through the screen and suddenly saw a merger and acquisition document marked as "Top Secret".
Feasibility Analysis Report on the Strategic Acquisition of a Hot Pot Group
Date: [Date]
Proposer: Jian Aotian
The first page was annotated in red pen: "Submit or disappear. —J"
"..."
Chu Xiao frowned.
Based on her observation of the naming patterns of companies around the world, the Hot Pot Group, judging from its name alone, could not possibly be a small entity.
She did a quick Baidu search and was shocked to discover that this group had once been on par with six major groups specializing in cold noodles, fried chicken, fried skewers, spicy hot pot, ramen, and barbecue!
In her vision, there are only six giants in the catering industry.
And now, history clearly shows—
The seven giants.
Chu Xiao's face darkened, and he removed the wad of paper from his nostril.
"Wang Xue, I need all the information on the hotpot group within three days, including information on all direct members of the Huo family."
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