70: Chapter 70 Emotional Murder

The meeting room was filled with the choking smell of cigarette smoke; the air was so thick it felt like it could be wrung out like water.

Deng Renfang sat alone at one end of the long table, facing several shareholders whose expressions ranged from cold and impatient to hypocritically concerned.

Fatty Li's round body was sunk into a large leather chair, his fingers tapping the tabletop rhythmically, like a vulture waiting for its prey to draw its last breath.

"CEO Deng,"

CEO Wang, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and with his hair slicked back, finally broke the suffocating silence, his voice as sharp as a blade scraping across glass.

"Let's not beat around the bush; everyone here knows exactly what's going on."

"Aren't you just banking on that enlightenment engine, hoping it'll perform some magic trick to pull that bottomless money pit of a Sealing Ring Project out of thin air?"

He sneered, leaning forward with eyes full of blatant mockery.

"Are you really that devoted to the state? Do you truly believe in an enlightenment that hasn't even shown its shadow yet?"

"Don't forget, you were the one who responded to the call for high-end innovation, and you were the one who beat your chest and swore it would succeed!"

"And the result? The money is burned, the house is mortgaged, and your wife and child are eating pickled vegetables while you're still here daydreaming!"

This blunt exposure of his failures hit Deng Renfang like a heavy punch to the chest. His hands under the table clenched instantly, his knuckles turning white.

He remembered his daughter Niuniu's small hand secretly covering the dish of pickled vegetables with her Triple-A Student certificate at the dinner table, the grease stains blooming on the corner of the paper... A surge of bitterness rushed to his nose.

Before Deng Renfang could speak, a shareholder with a face full of flab slammed the table, his spit nearly flying into Deng's face.

"Deng! Don't be ungrateful! CEO Li and the others are showing some old sentiment by being willing to take this hit for you and letting you walk away with enough money to retire comfortably!"

"This is a goddamn miracle! Was your head kicked by a donkey? Do you insist on dragging everyone down with you?"

He looked around, threatening fiercely.

"I'm laying it out today! Two paths."

"Either do as CEO Li says—sign the agreement, take the money, and leave—or we'll immediately start legal proceedings and sue you for misuse of funds and damaging shareholder interests! When that happens, forget the project; the whole company will grind to a halt! We'll all go down together! You choose!"

"Exactly! Do you really think we're running a charity?"

"Deng Renfang, be sensible!"

Several other minority shareholders immediately joined the clamor, and the meeting room instantly became like a disturbed hornet's nest.

Amidst the overwhelming hostility, even though Deng Renfang held a 51% controlling stake, he felt a massive sense of powerlessness.

A legal quagmire would be enough to paralyze the company, let alone any future research and development.

Fatty Li saw that the timing was right and let out a heavy sigh, his face instantly shifting to an expression of mixed heartache and sincerity.

He stood up, walked around the table to Deng Renfang's side, and even raised a hand to pat his shoulder, which Deng Renfang instinctively dodged.

Fatty Li didn't mind, his voice low and earnest.

"Brother Renfang!"

He used the long-forgotten address, his tone full of regret.

"How many years have we known each other? Back when you were just starting out, short on money and people, I was the first to step up, bringing in investment and helping you build the framework!"

"What did I value? It was you, Deng Renfang! It was that stubborn drive of yours to never give up! You had to be the best at everything you did!"

He paused, then changed his tone, sounding as earnest and wise as a mentor.

"But my old friend, you have to see reality! Times have changed! In the past, you could succeed by being bold and meticulous."

"But what is it now? It's high-tech! It's a bottomless money pit!"

"Be honest with yourself—those technical parameters, the molecular simulations—do you even understand them? Can those experts under you really pull it off? Don't let yourself be fooled!"

Fatty Li leaned in closer, lowering his voice even further, filled with heart-to-heart temptation.

"Take a piece of advice from your younger brother: take this money. It's enough for your whole family to live in luxury for the rest of your lives!"

"Wouldn't it be better to take your wife and Niuniu on trips, buy some nice houses, and live a peaceful life? Why insist on rolling around in this mud? What are you after?"

"What am I after..."

Fatty Li's words were like poisoned honey, accurately piercing Deng Renfang's softest spot.

After years of dealings, they had been adversaries on the surface but had also shared drinks and called each other brothers in private.

This old sentiment was now being used as a weapon by Fatty Li, causing Deng Renfang a suffocating sense of pain and hesitation more than any cold threat could.

He thought of Lin Jing's tired but still gentle eyes, Niuniu's sensible smile, and that home that remained lit despite the storm... A heavy sense of guilt almost crushed him.

The meeting room suddenly went quiet, all eyes fixed intently on Deng Renfang's face.

To refuse? That meant immediate war; the company would be in peril, his wife and daughter's lives would become even harder, and his years of hard work might go down the drain.

To agree? That would be like personally handing over the project, which embodied countless efforts and hopes, along with the company's future, to this pack of wolves who only cared about short-term profits.

Once the core technology fell into their hands, it was almost certain that it would be discarded at will after being squeezed dry of its value.

This wasn't a way out; it was clearly drinking poison to quench thirst!

The two choices were like red-hot irons, repeatedly searing his mind.

Sweat soaked his back, and his throat was too dry to make a sound.

At this critical moment, when even the air seemed ready to solidify and explode—

"Ding!"

A crisp, short notification sound from a phone cut through the dead silence like a sharp sword!

Deng Renfang instinctively looked toward the table.

On the screen, a concise notification carrying the weight of destiny quietly popped up:

[Qiming Intelligent Manufacturing Engine] Project application status update: Audit passed. API has been authorized and issued. Please log in to the official Qiming Intelligent Manufacturing Engine website to receive it.

Fatty Li, standing nearby, had sharp eyes. As if he had caught a glimpse of something, his expression suddenly stopped being aggressive.

His expression softened, and he cleared his throat, offering a rare word of fairness.

"I think, well, it doesn't have to be like this. No one benefits this way. We can all talk things through."

Seeing Fatty Li speak this way, the other shareholders seemed to take the hint; their expressions softened as well, and they all began tapping away on their phones.

"CEO Li, what did you see?"

"Everyone, stop, stop. It looks like CEO Deng's enlightenment application was approved. I saw a bit of it."

"What!? When did he apply? Why wasn't there any news?"

"Exactly, why did it pass so quickly? Wasn't it predicted to take several months?"

"I've seen that website. There are so many application requirements, and almost every relevant domestic company has applied. With information verification, there's no way it would be approved in less than a few months."

"Is it fake? Is Deng Renfang bluffing us? Who's going to test him?"

"I also think it's unlikely. How could they process that much information? I heard the approval process is very strict."