"Does this have something to do with Warden Lyu?"
The instant it clicked, Ji Jue could not help asking out of curiosity.
Ye Xian nodded in gratification.
He truly was fine jade—bright enough to grasp everything at the slightest hint. She had only mentioned the auto plant, yet he had probably already connected the military qualification to the recent turbulent unrest.
The current state of affairs, while not precarious enough to be balanced like piled eggs or ready to explode at a touch, could certainly be considered an upheaval unlike anything seen in decades.
As friction between the Federation and the Empire grew increasingly heated, disputes in the Mid-Continent intensified; the White Nation and the Red States had resumed their mortal war; and the independent city-states across the Thousand Islands bristled with hostility toward one another.
With the Federation President's term coming to an end, the feud between the two parties in Congress had reached a fever pitch. One day, explicit photos of a Progressive Party candidate were leaked; the next, emails from the Citizens' Party were made public... At this critical juncture, regional support became exponentially more vital to the central government, and the acting Haizhou Warden had turned into a prized commodity fought over in the bipartisan brawl.
Amidst it all, behemoths across military manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, insurance, banking, and even the Association and the Wild Gathering were keeping a hawkish watch on the board, hoping to seize even greater spoils. Through overt rivalries and covert schemes, they churned the landscape into a tangled web where pulling a single thread moved the entire tapestry.
Standing in the thick of it, it was hard to tell friend from foe, and tomorrow remained unpredictable.
The oppressive atmosphere Ji Jue had sensed from Tong Shan and the Association was, at best, merely a wisp of aftershock from a distant storm.
"In the final analysis, it's nothing more than the fickleness of human hearts," Ye Xian said. "The regulations of Tianyuan possess their own self-correcting mechanisms and structure. Although they still cannot escape the eventual burden of deeply ingrained decay, things haven't degenerated to that extent yet.
"To use an analogy, we're currently just in a phase where internal stress within a workpiece is steadily mounting. Once it hits a certain threshold, it will naturally restructure into a brand-new form and countenance. It's nothing unusual."
Ji Jue came to a realization. "Warden Lyu hopes to accomplish something during a time like this?"
"Accomplish something?"
Ye Xian was amused. "You certainly know how to romanticize her... At best, it's merely the scheme of an ambitious schemer. Over all these years, she's bustled about networking across Haizhou and hunting for achievements—wasn't all of it for this very day?
"For someone like her, as long as it's useful, she'll use it regardless of whether it's friend or foe. As long as it cures the ailment, she'll swallow it whether it's medicine or poison.
"Whether history ultimately judges her as achieving timeless merit or committing unforgivable crimes, who could say for sure before the lid of her coffin is nailed shut?"
"Back when I settled in Yacheng, I owed her a significant favor," Ye Xian said. "We each have what the other needs, and there exists a modicum of trust and tacit understanding between us that's better than nothing. Even if neither of us regards the other as a partner, we can still be allies."
Ji Jue understood.
As matters stood, Lyu Yingyue had ascended to the position of Warden, but if she wanted to secure her seat and truly unite the scattered sandbox of Haizhou, she still fell short.
At this crucial turning point, she needed a card in her hand to win over the Military Department and secure its backing. It was even possible that Haian Armaments was one of the conditions in their agreement.
After all, Yacheng served as the stronghold she had cultivated for years, as well as the largest major port in the entire Federation and the closest to the Mid-Continent.
Ever since desperate exiles from the White Nation had hijacked planes forty-odd years ago and sheared through Midtown's Tri-Phase Tower, the funds poured by the Federation into defense manufacturing had skyrocketed year after year like a rising rocket.
If conflict reignited between the Federation and the Empire in the near future, the existence and significance of Haian Armaments would be magnified in an instant, perhaps even serving as a pivotal fulcrum to exert immense influence.
But the prerequisite was... such an entity had to actually exist!
And now, when the choice was laid before Ji Jue, he suddenly felt a surge of trepidation.
"Such a massive undertaking... can I really handle it?"
"Of course you can't."
Ye Xian shook her head. "Ten of you couldn't handle it, and adding me wouldn't change that either. Don't think too highly of yourself, Ji Jue. You just happen to be standing in a key spot."
This was by no means an outcome that a single person or workshop could decide or bring about. Only the coordinated cooperation of all Yacheng—and indeed various sectors across Haizhou—could eventually give rise to such a formidable scale.
"All you have to do is get the Haian brand back up and running within three months. That's all."
Ji Jue grew increasingly bewildered. "But I don't know the first thing about running a business."
Setting aside his appalling mishmash of numerous legacies and artisan crafts, he was, at best, an engineer—a mechanic who fixed cars.
Judging purely by his résumé, he hadn't even graduated from his master's degree!
"Can't you just treat it as an internship?" Ye Xian waved a hand nonchalantly. "Corrupt school administrations colluding with manufacturers, partnering with advisors to ship freshly minted draft beasts into workshops to tighten screws for free—isn't that the standard internship procedure?"
"An internship?"
Ji Jue could hardly hold back a wry laugh.
Internships for the workhorses in mechanical engineering meant turning screws on an assembly line. Who the hell gets handed an entire factory for an internship... Wait.
He paused for a beat, sudden realization dawning on him. "Wait, so does that mean I can build whatever I want?"
"Whatever you want," Ye Xian replied. "Treat it as a giant workshop and tinker as you please, or treat it as a business simulator if you like. All I care about is Haian Auto Works resuming operations and production—even if it's only at the bare minimum."
It was like an old car rusted through years of aging: go get it running!
Never mind how loud the racket was, never mind how much trouble it caused; as long as it moved, that was enough. Even if it couldn't run and could only crawl along the ground, it didn't matter.
As a subsidiary and the sole surviving component of Haian Group, Haian Auto Works was merely a plant on the brink of death.
What Ji Jue needed to do was prove that Haian Auto Works still existed and still possessed production capacity...
No matter how much was missing, it didn't matter.
Money? Everyone had plenty of it. If needed, as much as required could be poured in!
So long as it could start over.
So long as it could gain a footing in the market—no, even just reviving the brand's signboard to the bare minimum would suffice.
Once all this was accomplished, Ji Jue could bow out gracefully with his mission fulfilled, and everything afterward would have nothing to do with him.
As a contributor, he would still walk away showered in glory.
Throughout the grand scheme, Ji Jue's presence was nothing more than the tail end of the tail end, a mere field operative.
At the same time, he would be the first blade of straw facing the gale, the first pebble tossed to test the waters and skip across the ripples, the protruding rafter that rots first, and...
The cannon fodder on the front line.
Anyone could figure out even with their heels how difficult it was for a company that had wasted away for decades, an enterprise on its deathbed, to rally its strength and make a comeback.
Besides, how had it fallen to such a state in the first place?
Holding a military qualification—something that literally printed money while one lay in bed—how could it have ended up on its last gasp? Could it really have been just because someone didn't watch where they walked and stepped forward with their left foot first?
No matter how large a cake was, it was finite. If there was one more slice on your plate, someone else's plate had to lose one. When someone came bearing a plate looking for a slice, the incumbents who already had their hands on the cake would only slap the newcomer's plate straight to the ground.
Want a bite?
If you want to eat, kneel down and catch whatever crumbs trickle from above. That would fill your stomach too, and it could taste plenty sweet. If you behaved well, you might even be given a cherry or half a strawberry.
Don't want to eat on your knees? Then starve to death.
Over all these years, both the rise and fall of Haian Group had their causes. Countless overt clashes and covert tussles swirled around it; for every person who wanted to use this plate to carve out a slice of the cake, far too many refused to let that plate be lifted off the floor again.
As long as you lay there waiting to die, everyone could treat you as nonexistent. But if you tried to stand—no, the moment you even showed the slightest hint of wanting to stand up—it was time for the circle-stomp to begin.
While people might not necessarily make major moves at such a critical juncture, and it might well be alarmist talk, the moment Ji Jue took office, he would inevitably become a thorn in the side and a speck in the eye for quite a few people.
In other words, part of Ji Jue's job was... to serve as bait.
There was no helping it; the position he currently occupied was simply too perfect.
As a native of Haizhou and a local boy of Yacheng, he possessed an innate home-ground advantage.
At the same time, as Ye Xian's student, he naturally enjoyed Lyu Yingyue's trust.
Behind him, he had dealings back and forth with the Security Bureau, maintained close ties with the Tong family, and shared entanglements with the big boss of the Wild Gathering that outsiders couldn't untangle. He moved comfortably across all three paths: black, white, and grey.
He was proficient in alchemy and engineering, and his talents as an Embers Heaven's Chosen and as an engineer were beyond reproach.
His ability to handle pressure was absurdly high.
Though he was occasionally somewhat uncanny... none of the allies who had ever dealt with him could speak of him without giving a thumbs-up and praising him as reliable.
Other candidates simply couldn't compare.
Even Ye Xian herself couldn't match him for this role. Her identity was too sensitive and her stature far too massive. While Ji Jue was merely tossing a stone to test the waters—leaving room for ambiguity and maneuvering—Ye Xian stepping in would be like blasting fish with anti-aircraft artillery, instantly setting off alarms for every competitor in the field.
As a result, right here and now, Ji Jue had become the one and only choice.
In fact, Ji Jue himself had a need for this post.
"Then again..."
Ji Jue fell silent for a long while before finally asking, "Given the same conditions, there are other candidates, aren't there?"
"That's not something you need to concern yourself with," Ye Xian said, shaking her head. "Whether you take it or not is entirely up to you and has nothing to do with anyone else. Just think through the rewards and the risks."
"Is there really any need to think over something this good?"
Ji Jue shook his head decisively, picked up a pen, and signed his name directly onto the equity transfer contract.
"There's no need for any other options, Teacher."
Ji Jue picked up the contract and smiled faintly at Ye Xian. "In all of Haizhou today, who else could it be but me?"
***
At two o'clock that afternoon, Ji Jue met Lyu Yingyue at the headquarters of the Yacheng Security Bureau.
The Warden, whom he had met a few times before, saw off an unfamiliar visitor before waving over toward Ji Jue, who had been waiting outside the door, showing not the slightest distance—just as if beckoning a close younger relative.
"Care for some tea?"
She dismissed her secretary, walked over to the tea counter herself, and glanced back to ask, "I came across a rather nice tea cake a few days ago. Care to try some?"
"Just water is fine."
Before long, a cup of plain water was set before Ji Jue.
Lyu Yingyue smiled. "When Ye Xian told me you agreed, I was actually a little surprised. I thought you'd dread the trouble and need some time to consider it."
"To me, it's quite a good opportunity; there's no reason to pass it up," Ji Jue replied candidly. "Besides, I'm planning to use this chance to resolve my blessing. It would be a pity to miss out."
Chapter 317