Touya Yaoyao

After an awkward silence, the only sound in the car was the monotonous tapping of Yu Yaoyao's laptop keyboard. The man driving was silent for a while before abruptly speaking:

"Boss, the once-every-thirty-years selection competition for the Zhaoguo District Chief is about to begin. Do you think our Asian region can win this time?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Yaoyao's fingers paused for a moment as she typed on the keyboard, then she looked up in surprise and asked:

"Have we ever lost?!"

Seeing Yu Yaoyao respond, the driver replied with a hint of resentment, muttering:

"We've lost several times. Last time, we almost lost to the European region. If we hadn't been lucky enough, the economic subsidies for the past thirty years would probably have gone to the European region!"

The so-called economic subsidy is an honorary fund awarded by the royal family of Zhao Kingdom to a certain outstanding district. This fund is similar to an award certificate and is a symbol of strength.

An excellent district is one that excels in several aspects, including economy, strength, safety, national happiness, and environmental protection.

The Kingdom of Zhao has been at peace for thousands of years, and the different districts are not much different in all aspects. The only thing that proves that one's own district is good is the economic subsidy issued by the royal family of Zhao.

Yu Yaoyao subconsciously pondered for a moment, then continued with her work, muttering to herself:

"Really?? That wretched place in the European zone, where a fire could burn for three days and three nights and no one would put it out, dares to compete with us?"

Seemingly sensing the sarcasm in Yu Yaoyao's words, the man couldn't help but ask curiously:

"Is that so?! How come I didn't know?!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Yaoyao stared at the screen without looking up, typing and muttering to herself:

"You'd be a fool to know this. This is a political incident; we have to keep it quiet. If His Majesty finds out, won't he have to dismiss a bunch of people?! It's best to suppress it discreetly first, pretend nothing happened, then resolve the issues and provide compensation as needed. In short, just get it over with."

Upon hearing this, the man instantly became enraged and couldn't help but retort indignantly:

"Isn't this a lie?!"

Seemingly sensing the anger in the man's tone, Yu Yaoyao couldn't help but chuckle softly, unsure whether she was laughing at his naivety or his foolishness.

Anyway, after a light laugh, she said in a teasing tone:

"I'm telling you, you're still too young. In officialdom, big problems are always downplayed and small problems are ignored. Only when things can't be covered up anymore do they kneel down and beg for mercy. Everyone cries and begs, saying they'll give them a chance because of their decades of hard work. But in reality, they're all just occupying positions without doing anything."

Hearing Yu Yaoyao's almost precise吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for sarcastic or critical remarks), the man couldn't help but retort:

"We're not like that!!"

Yu Yaoyao didn't argue with the man's rebuttal; instead, she echoed him:

"You're researchers, of course you're not that kind of people. Don't learn those bureaucratic ways. If you're wrong, admit it and correct it. In our line of work, the worst thing you can do is pretend to know what you don't."

Seemingly sensing the praise in Yu Yaoyao's tone, the man smugly curled his lips into a smile. However, Bai Taoshi's expression was rather unpleasant. He subconsciously turned his head, staring directly at Yu Yaoyao, and questioned her in a dark and angry tone:

"What do you mean by the fire in the European zone burning for three days and three nights?! Is that true??"

When questioned by Bai Taoshi, Yu Yaoyao remained noncommittal, offering only a perfunctory response:

"Why don't you just ask your friends in Europe? Why do you need to ask me?! Of course, the biggest advantage of this incident is that there were no casualties; otherwise, they probably would have had a hard time suppressing it."

Upon hearing this, Shiro Touya's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot, as if ink could drip from it, and it could even be described as gloomy as the sky before a storm, sending chills down one's spine.

He angrily took out his phone, seemingly to message someone, his brow furrowed, his face contorted with rage, his eyes blazing as he stared intently at the screen, as if trying to burn it through.

Seeing that Shirato Shirai's expression was off, the driver couldn't help but change the subject and ask:

"Boss, are you leaving again this time?! We've missed you so much these past few years!"

Yu Yaoyao, perhaps having finished her work, closed her laptop and looked at the man driving, teasingly saying:

"Wang Yao, you sure know how to talk. Don't think that just because of this I won't ask about your progress over the past few years. Let me tell you, begging and acting cute won't work. I still need to check the progress. If you're even a little bit behind, your cash flow will be..."

The threat in Yu Yaoyao's words was obvious. The man Yu Yaoyao called Wang Yao had a bitter face and couldn't help but beg for mercy:

"No way, boss! You know how expensive research is. If you cut off the funding..."

Yu Yaoyao ignored him, instead crossing her arms and leaning back, teasing him with an air of certainty:

"So, you guys have been making slow progress these past few years while I was away?"

Wang Yao's lips twitched slightly. He carefully considered his words and said nervously:

"It's not exactly slow, but it just didn't meet your expectations, so could you...?"

“We’ll talk about it later.”

Yu Yaoyao looked out at the scenery and said in a good mood:

"Perhaps your progress has exceeded my expectations!!"

Seeing that Yu Yaoyao was no longer asking questions, Wang Yao subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, and then couldn't help but blame himself for being so talkative.

As if he had received an answer, Shiro Touya's face instantly turned as black as coal, as if shrouded in dark clouds, or even on the verge of exploding with rage. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and stood like a statue, exuding an aura of "don't bother me, strangers stay away."

Yu Yaoyao ignored Bai Taoshi's anger, but she was a little curious. Logically speaking, this kind of thing shouldn't have anything to do with him, so why was he so angry? Could it be that there was some inside story she didn't know about?

When the car arrived at its destination, before Yu Yaoyao could even get out, Bai Taoshi rushed out and walked to the side to make a phone call, seemingly preoccupied with something.

Since the other party chose to stay away, Yu Yaoyao had no reason to follow, and instead busied herself with her own affairs with Wang Yao.

The main reason for bringing Wang Yao here was to test whether the drones they developed could be put into use, or even mass-produced.

After all, although Zhaoguo is a technologically advanced country, it seems that no one is researching drones. So Yu Yaoyao took the initiative and found a group of science students to build a project specifically for drones.

She spent a lot of money and bought a lot of materials. The design drawings filled several rooms. From junior high school to her graduation from university, she finally managed to put together this thing after more than ten years of hard work.

Wang Yao said that they added a new survey function to the drone, which can take pictures and even record various data of ground buildings and even the surrounding environment. If necessary, it can even detect whether there are living things under the building during an earthquake.

Yu Yaoyao thought the drone was quite practical, so she planned to test its effectiveness on the land where she planned to build a film studio.

The drone designed by Wang Yao and his team was about the size of a sparrow. After receiving the command from Wang Yao, the drone began to circle around the ground.

Subsequently, Wang Yao imported the data sent back by the drone into his computer using a special instrument. In less than half an hour, all the data for this piece of land was displayed on Yu Yaoyao's laptop.

Yu Yaoyao glanced at the 3D model on the computer screen, nodded in satisfaction, and casually replied:

"not bad"

Wang Yao secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could even boast about himself, Yu Yaoyao spoke up again:

"But this level of precision isn't enough. You'd better study it further to see if you can make it more accurate. And this..."

He rattled off a whole bunch of questions without any restraint. Wang Yao's face was deathly pale, and his smile looked more like a grimace.

I already said I wouldn't come, I'd send someone else. You all insist you can't talk properly, and you're not as handsome as me. Maybe if I used my good looks, the boss would agree.

Agree my ass! How could someone as heartless as the boss, who sees beauty as dirt, possibly be seduced by me? Didn't you see the movie star being ignored too?! Now that so many faults have been pointed out, it seems like this year's funds are tight again.

Yu Yaoyao spoke eloquently, while Wang Yao listened with a sense of utter despair. Finally, Yu Yaoyao looked at the drone flying in front of her and praised it to Wang Yao:

"Overall, it's pretty good. Keep up the good work this year, and I'll invest more in you so we can scale up our usage next year. Speaking of which, this thing is quite convenient; it can be used for surveillance, moved at any time, and track covertly. I think it's great."

In just a few words, it was like a glimmer of hope after a long period of darkness, like a withered tree coming back to life, like a new lease on life after a desperate situation. Wang Yao looked at Yu Yaoyao with excitement, almost crying with joy. But before he could even feel moved, Bai Taoshi pulled him aside.