A List of Names

Dajiang Group Headquarters.

In the conference room, Chu Lintian was reviewing reports from various subsidiaries, but the atmosphere was tense.

Dajiang Group owned over a dozen subsidiaries, and today's meeting was aimed at the management of each one.

Chu Lintian swiped her finger lightly across the tablet in front of her, freezing the quarterly report data of a specific subsidiary.

She looked up, her gaze calm, sweeping over the three people behind her: General Manager Lin Zhiming of Jiangteng Company, alongside his director Jiang Yeqiu and the finance manager.

"The report looks impressive—growth rate and net profit both exceeded expectations."

Just as Lin Zhiming was about to offer a modest smile, Chu Lintian's tone took a sharp turn.

"But I have another set of data here."

She turned the tablet toward them. "The after-sales complaint rate reported by customer service has increased by thirty-seven point five percent year-on-year, General Manager Lin. How do you explain this number?"

The air froze instantly.

The director and finance manager already had faint beads of sweat forming on their foreheads.

Within the company, Chu Lintian fully embodied her role as a formidable woman in power.

As the current chairman of Dajiang Group, Chu Lintian had completely taken control of the company.

Since Lin Mo cleared out those deeply entrenched obstacles, the entire Dajiang Group had become her sole domain.

Now, with a strong alliance with the Jiang family's Tianyun Century Group, momentum was on their side.

But precisely because of this, her scrutiny of details became even more exacting.

Lin Zhiming's heart skipped a beat, though he maintained a composed facade on his face. "Chairman Chu, we've already noted this issue. It's mainly due to the rapid expansion of business—the after-sales team's training hasn't kept up. We've already—"

"I don't want to hear about the process."

Chu Lintian cut him off, tapping her index finger twice on the table. "I only care about results. Next quarter, I want this number down to below fifteen percent."

No room for argument.

"Alright, that's all for today. I have other matters to attend to."

She stood up sharply, her movements brisk. "You're welcome to stay for a meal at headquarters' cafeteria if you have time—the food is decent. Bonuses for companies with good performance will be paid as usual, but I expect results next quarter."

Before her words faded, she was already at the conference room door, the crisp sound of her high heels echoing and fading into the distance.

At that moment, Jiang Yeqiu wanted to raise a hand to stop her, but considering the number of people present, he suppressed the idea immediately.

He quietly slipped the bone ring from his finger and tucked it into his pocket.

A wave of unexplained anger churned in his heart.

Wasn't that guy Zhafu bragging about how powerful this ring was?

He'd said that as long as someone wore it, they could unconsciously influence the wearer's mind, making them feel inexplicable fondness and attention, ultimately capturing that person entirely.

But throughout this entire meeting, let alone fondness, Chu Lintian's gaze at him felt no different from how she looked at cold, lifeless numbers.

Completely useless!

Could it be that the ring's effect was too weak, needing a slow buildup like simmering meat over a low flame?

Jiang Yeqiu even entertained the absurd thought of trying it on someone else—perhaps someone here.

But he quickly dismissed it.

No, he needed to stay steady.

Keeping a low profile was better. Zhafu had also told him that some of the things he'd recently nourished had been taken care of, which meant there was someone more skilled than him in Yangcheng.

That guy had practically become a turtle hiding in its shell these days—rarely going out, lying low like there was no tomorrow.

But that was fine. Zhafu obviously had limited understanding of modern society. Though he possessed some special abilities, as he put it: there are always mountains beyond mountains and people beyond people.

Patience was key for now.

Without staying at headquarters' cafeteria, their group went straight back to their own company.

Back in the CEO's office, Chu Lintian rubbed her wrist.

She had just felt the jade bracelet growing warm. Nothing was wrong with her, but the heat from the bracelet signified that something had gone awry.

The moment she left the conference room, she felt better.

What did this mean?

It meant someone had tried something against her—and it was highly likely that person was among the subsidiary heads in that conference room.

"Mistake on my part. I should have called each of them in for individual talks."

Chu Lintian knew the jade bracelet protected her, which itself provided a good opportunity for testing and troubleshooting without risk.

She wondered if the other party would notice or become wary.

Just as she was planning her next move, a voice rang out.

"Your jade bracelet reacted."

Hearing this voice, Chu Lintian felt not shock but delight.

"Why are you back?! Didn't you go to Tianjing again?"

"It's fine, it's been about half an hour since I returned."

Flying was still too slow. Lin Mo wished he could instantly return to Yangcheng.

Lin Mo grabbed Chu Lintian's wrist and scanned the bracelet. The spiritual energy within it had been slightly depleted.

"Something happened just now?"

Lin Mo asked seriously.

"Nothing... barely any trouble. It's just that the bracelet got a little hot."

"That means something did happen, even if you didn't notice. Tell me, what were you doing when the bracelet heated up?"

Chu Lintian instantly pouted and retorted, like a little girl.

"I know someone must have tried something against me. I'm not an idiot. I also have some guesses about who it might be—I'm just not sure which one exactly."

She immediately recounted the events of the meeting.

But with dozens of people in the conference room, screening them one by one would be troublesome.

Lin Mo couldn't help but frown.

It was clear the opponent's strength was negligible. Such a trivial trick couldn't even consume half a shred of the bracelet's spiritual energy.

The small amount spent would recover on its own.

Strictly speaking, Chu Lintian was still quite safe.

Still, after some thought, Lin Mo gave her a few extra talismans for self-defense.

Defense alone wasn't enough; it had to be paired with strong offensive capabilities.

"In that case, just investigate and probe carefully."

Lin Mo didn't think Chu Lintian would do anything foolish. As long as she didn't remove the bracelet, no one could harm her.

Finding the culprit would be simple—all he needed was a name list.

Lin Mo directly obtained the list of everyone who attended the today's meeting.

And then he spotted a familiar name.

This didn't surprise him much, since Jiang Chengshan had already told him before.

He had scanned that person with his spiritual sense before and found nothing unusual, but he still sent the list to Liu Zheng.

After all, the Yanhuang Awakened needed something to do—otherwise, the Northern Profound True Lord himself would end up handling everything.