226: Chapter 226 On the Eve of the Announcement of Welfare Measures

By the time they returned to Mingzhu, it was already almost ten in the evening.

The snow hadn't stopped; instead, it was falling even more densely than back in Beining City. The streetlights of the villa area fell upon the snow, casting a quiet, pale glow over the courtyard.

When Lu Li pushed open the door and entered the house, only a few warm lights were lit in the living room.

There was no one speaking, nor any sound from the television.

Yet, there was a very faint aroma of hot tea in the air.

Su Qingxue was sitting by the sofa, a light-colored knit cardigan draped over her shoulders, with a tablet and several unfinished documents placed by her feet. She had clearly been waiting all this time, only looking up to face him the moment she heard the door open.

That glance was very ordinary.

Yet, Lu Li could see a hint of concern in it that she couldn't quite hide.

He took off his overcoat, and just as he draped it aside, Su Qingxue had already stood up and walked over.

She didn't ask about the outcome first, nor was she in a hurry to read his expression.

She simply raised her hand naturally and brushed away the fine snow on his shoulders that hadn't fully melted yet.

"It's coming down pretty hard."

"Yeah." Lu Li looked down at her. "The roads weren't completely blocked, so that's already not bad."

Su Qingxue took his coat, hung it up, and then handed him the cup of tea from the table that had been kept warm.

The cup was warm to the touch.

Holding it in his palm felt as though it instantly suppressed a bit of the chill from his journey.

Lu Li took the tea and took a sip, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly.

Only then did Su Qingxue look at him, her voice very soft.

"How did it go?"

Standing in the warm light, Lu Li's eyes grew quiet for a moment.

Only then did he reply:

"It'll work."

Su Qingxue's eyelashes fluttered slightly.

"But some people are going to throw a fit."

He said this very flatly, as if stating something completely expected.

Yet, Su Qingxue understood instantly.

She looked at him and asked directly:

"How do you plan to handle the backlash next?"

Lu Li looked down at her and suddenly smiled.

"What, is President Su planning to hold a PR conference for me?"

"Stop joking around." Su Qingxue looked at him, her tone steady. "I'm asking you if you want me to tighten the reins on the company's end first."

"Public opinion, capital, the supply chain, and the people who might jump out later—we have to be prepared."

As she said this, her gaze was very calm.

It wasn't panic.

Nor was it fear.

Rather, she was already looking ahead to clear the path for him.

The hint of a smile in Lu Li's eyes deepened.

"Don't worry."

"A storm of this size won't capsize our ship."

Having said that, he casually pulled her into his arms.

The movement wasn't forceful, yet it was completely natural.

Su Qingxue had intended to continue speaking, but with this pull, she took a half-step forward and leaned gently into his chest.

It was a snowy night outside, but the house was incredibly warm.

She didn't struggle.

Nor did she move.

She simply rested her forehead quietly against his chest, listening to his heartbeat, and closed her eyes gently.

After a few seconds, she spoke in a low voice:

"I'm just worried you'll be too exhausted."

"Even Elder Wu was swayed by me today, so why worry about this?" Lu Li raised his hand to stroke the hair at the back of her neck. "President Su, do you lack basic trust in your husband's eloquence?"

Su Qingxue couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"Stop joking."

Lu Li smiled as well.

As he smiled, the sharp and cold edge he had maintained in the meeting room back in Beining City seemed to finally melt away, bit by bit, within this room.

However, the fire outside did not die down just because of the warmth inside the villa.

The tablet screen on the coffee table was still lit, with new push notifications constantly popping up.

The discussion about "Robots stealing livelihoods" was still fermenting.

Hot search topics were trending one after another.

On short-video platforms, some people sat at factory entrances smoking, some stared blankly at mostly empty assembly lines, and others took photos of the work uniforms they hadn't changed for over a decade, with captions saying:

"Machines work faster and cheaper than me, so what do I have left?"

Words like these weren't overly sensational.

Yet they were exceptionally piercing.

Lu Li glanced down at it and remained silent.

Su Qingxue, however, had already stepped back slightly from his embrace and picked up the tablet.

She scrolled through a couple of pages, her gaze gradually darkening.

Something indescribable lay heavy between the lines.

It wasn't a simple hatred of technology, nor was it targeted at any specific person.

Rather, it was an anxiety and sense of grievance slowly forced out by reality.

When a single individual sat before the grand tide of a new era, realizing they might not keep up, couldn't learn, and had no second path to take, their voice would sound just like this.

As Su Qingxue watched, she suddenly understood something.

She used to think that Lu Li's greatest strength was always being one step ahead of everyone else.

Seeing technology one step ahead.

Creating things one step ahead.

Leaving everyone behind one step ahead.

But at this moment, she suddenly realized—

What made him truly terrifying was never just his speed.

It was that while everyone else was still staring at technology, markets, profits, and winning or losing, he had already stopped to think about something else.

What about the people?

What about the people who were being squeezed out?

What about those who were about to fall behind in this wave of change?

He didn't just want to build the future.

He was leaving a door open for that future.

A door that wouldn't lock ordinary people outside.

The moment this thought surfaced, Su Qingxue's chest suddenly felt incredibly warm.

It wasn't simple admiration.

Nor was it the overused clichés of a "genius" or a "myth."

It was a deeper, quieter, and much warmer emotion.

She looked up at Lu Li, her eyes filled with a myriad of feelings, yet she said nothing.

Meanwhile, Chen Shuyu was still scrolling through public opinion in her apartment.

The more she scrolled, the more annoyed she became.

The more she scrolled, the more restless she grew.

She had always felt that Lu Li seemed to be constantly winning.

Winning in technology, winning the market, winning against competitors, and winning against the world.

But over the past few days, she suddenly realized that her previous understanding of "winning" had been far too shallow.

What he wanted to do now was no longer just win.

Rather, he wanted to drag those who were almost squeezed into the corners by the era out of those corners as well.

This was much heavier than simply winning a press conference, defeating a competitor, or gaining market share.

And far more difficult.

She stared at her phone screen, remaining silent for a long time, before finally swearing in a low voice:

"This bastard..."

"His grand vision is so annoying."

Yet after cursing, she couldn't suppress the warmth in her chest.

Just then, her phone suddenly vibrated.

It was an internal encrypted message.

The content was very short.

The approval from above had come down.

Time—November 10th.

Location—Beining City Municipal Press Conference Hall.

Theme—Interim Report on the smart city Pilot and Briefing on Related Policies.

Looking at those lines of text, Chen Shuyu's breathing instantly quickened.

She called Su Qingxue almost immediately.

"It's approved!"

"The date is set, November 10th!"

"The official conference hall, Beining City is hosting it in person!"

She spoke so fast she barely seemed to breathe.

Hearing this, Su Qingxue's gaze also sharpened, and she immediately looked at Lu Li.

Lu Li took the phone she handed over, glanced down at it, and his expression didn't change much.

It was as if he had actually been waiting for this moment for a long time.

He placed the phone back on the table, his voice very soft.

"They're finally willing to release it."

Outside the window, the snow was still falling.

The warm light from the living room spilled across the floor.

Yet in the air, it felt as though something was finally tightening, bit by bit, amidst the silence.

This time, it wasn't some product launch.

Nor was it a demonstration of some new technology.

It was a public announcement about putting money directly into people's hands.

And that was precisely what was most likely to make people lose control.