Chapter 40: The Observer Effect

The next morning, just as he had told Jiang Xingye, Lin Xu slept until he woke up naturally.

The first thing he did after getting up was to take out his phone to check his unread messages. Swiping away a slew of useless app notifications, he tapped into his WeChat. The first message he saw left him completely stunned.

"Lin Xu, we have basically finalized the plan for the new company. Based on discussions with the management team, we have come up with two options."

"The first option is, as we discussed before, to start a company from scratch, handle recruitment, and manage the procurement of equipment and raw materials ourselves. This is relatively safer, and by maintaining personal oversight throughout, the management will be cleaner. However, the downside is that we will likely spend a significant amount of time on the setup. A conservative estimate is about three to four months."

"As for the second option... we could directly acquire an existing chemical fiber factory. The company would provide the funding for the acquisition, and the equity distribution would remain as we previously agreed. We could take over the existing equipment and personnel and only need to supplement a few missing pieces of equipment to start operations immediately. With this plan, the entire cold-start cycle can be compressed to less than a week."

"What do you think? Which option is more suitable?"

Which one was more suitable? Without a doubt, the second one. What Lin Xu needed now was speed; three or four months was terrifyingly slow. As for the potential security issues of the second option... honestly, as long as the original management was completely cleared out, it shouldn't be a big problem. That wasn't hard to do!

Thinking this, Lin Xu decisively typed back: "Boss, let's go with the second option. Do we already have a target in mind?"

After sending the message, he immediately exited the interface, intending to reply to Jiang Xingye. After all, in his view, a boss like Ren Jian shouldn't be staring at their phone all the time. But to his surprise, before his hands could even return to the keyboard, Ren Jian’s reply popped up.

"Yes. We have identified a poorly managed chemical fiber factory that is currently seeking restructuring. All criteria are met, and if we push forward with full force, we can enter the negotiation stage this afternoon."

"No problem." Lin Xu typed again, asking, "Which factory is it?"

"Donghua Chemical Fiber Factory."

???

Lin Xu’s hands froze in place. Donghua Chemical Fiber Factory?! The very same Donghua Chemical Fiber Factory that he had stormed with the Skull-headed gang, where the security system had been smashed to pieces? Are you kidding me?!

How did they get their patents? At this moment, Lin Xu felt a strong sense of "unreality." Reality and the world of the bracelet had formed a closed loop. But the problem was that the "result" from the bracelet's world had appeared before the "process" in the real world! What the hell was this? The observer effect?

It was as if Donghua Chemical Fiber Factory were that photon passing through a double slit, predicting whether he would change the timeline and then laying out the results in advance according to the timeline he was about to create. Did that mean his own "subjective will" could directly change the future?

No, that was impossible. According to the information he had, in the world of the bracelet, Donghua Chemical Fiber Factory had not been acquired by any other capital. It had held on until the data for the two materials was made public, only then achieving a miraculous turnaround. This was most likely just a coincidence. Ren Jian chose this company simply because it was a sound target.

Lin Xu let out a long breath. For a moment there, he had truly felt a surge of intense fear. Fortunately, things had not escalated to an uncontrollable level.

However, having said that—if Sky Dome Technology completed the acquisition of Donghua Chemical Fiber now, what would that place look like when he entered the bracelet's world again?

Lin Xu touched the bracelet. He even considered entering it immediately to take a look. But then he thought better of it; the acquisition hadn't been settled yet, so even if he went in, nothing should have changed.

Better to get the acquisition finalized first.

Lin Xu sent his reply to Ren Jian, who immediately sent over the afternoon's meeting schedule, asking if Lin Xu wanted to participate. Lin Xu took a quick look; the content of the meeting was focused on the price, not yet involving anything that required his personal input, so he decisively let it go and left Ren Jian to make the call. After all, it wasn't his money funding the acquisition; if he were to meddle in that as well, it would be treating the boss of Sky Dome Technology like a complete nonentity.

Having finally finished replying to Ren Jian, Lin Xu intended to message Jiang Xingye, but before he could, her call came through.

"Seriously, buddy, are you still going or not? Sleeping until you wake up naturally doesn't mean sleeping this long! Look at the time, it's 10:30!"

Jiang Xingye’s tone was tinged with impatience. Lin Xu quickly replied, "I'll be right there, I'll be right there—go downstairs and wait for me, five minutes!"

"Hurry up!" Jiang Xingye hung up with a snap. Lin Xu scrambled up, dressed quickly, grabbed his phone, and headed for the door. Before leaving, he saw the water bottle Jiang Xingye had left at his place and picked it up to carry with him.

He headed straight for the elevator. When the doors opened, Jiang Xingye was already sitting on the sofa in the apartment lobby, waiting.

"You're here early," Lin Xu said, walking up to her.

Jiang Xingye was wearing light makeup, and her hair had clearly been carefully styled. Although it looked like a simple ponytail, the strands floating near her temples revealed a touch of intentional charm. She was wearing sportswear, and as she stood up, she lightly tapped her toes on the ground, her legs taut and straight.

My, my... was this a throwback to high school days?

"Tsk, tsk... is this a trip down memory lane to high school?"

"Trip to your head!" Jiang Xingye glared at him. "Big brother, I've been messaging you for an hour! Have you ever seen anyone ask a girl out to hang out and then make her wait for an hour??"

"I'm not taking the blame for that," Lin Xu shrugged. "You're the one who said you wanted to sleep until you woke up naturally!"

"I am so—" Jiang Xingye was speechless. "Forget it... let's go. Did you really sleep until just now?"

"No," Lin Xu quickly explained. "I was actually up a while ago, talking to my boss about the new company. They've already picked a target and are planning to negotiate the acquisition this afternoon."

"I see..." Jiang Xingye didn't probe further, but her gaze toward Lin Xu softened slightly. This was, at least, an acceptable excuse. If Lin Xu really had been so heartless as to sleep until now without a care, she would have had to teach him a thing or two about how to treat a girl.

Walking out of the apartment building, the car Lin Xu had hailed arrived. He walked to the side to open the door for Jiang Xingye. As she stepped in, she noticed the water bottle hanging from his shoulder.

"Oh?" Jiang Xingye’s eyes lit up. "You're quite thoughtful, knowing to bring my water bottle."

"That's just—" Lin Xu followed her into the car. Jiang Xingye reached out, "Give it here."

"Here." Lin Xu unhooked the bottle and handed it to her. Jiang Xingye unscrewed the cap and tilted her head back.

The next second, she stared at Lin Xu, dumbfounded.

"Are you kidding me??"

"Big brother, are you a pig? It's empty?!?"