The official apology came quickly and with sincerity.

Shi Jin couldn't believe it as he put down his phone and turned to Lian Jun, who was sitting behind the desk.

"What did you do? How did the officials suddenly issue several support projects to Ruihang and relax so many restrictions, opening the door wide for us?"

"It's already been issued?" Lian Jun put down his documents and immediately called Shi Weichong.

Shi Jin hurried over to the desk and listened in as Lian Jun spoke with Shi Weichong.

Lian Jun playfully flicked Shi Jin's forehead and changed the call to speakerphone.

"The plan can begin now. I'll send Number Eight and Number Ten to negotiate. We can move quickly, now with the official support projects as cover, speed is of utmost importance."

"No problem, I have already arranged the personnel on my end," came the polite and professional voice of Shi Weichong through the phone.

Upon hearing this, Shi Jin furrowed his brows and said, "Personnel arrangement? When did you do that? Didn't I tell you to rest properly and not work for long hours over there?" He then looked up at Lian Jun, silently questioning him with his eyes.

- When did you have private contact with Shi Weichong? Why didn't you tell me?

Lian Jun understood his gaze immediately and explained, "It's not that I didn't tell you, it's just that you were still in military training when I made these arrangements, so I couldn't inform you. Later on, I simply forgot to mention it."

So that was the reason. Shi Jin reluctantly accepted this explanation.

Shi Weichong was surprised to see Shi Jin sitting across from Lian Jun. After a moment of hesitation, he spoke in a softer tone, completely ignoring Lian Jun and asking, "Xiao Jin, how are things over there? I heard you got first place in military training, congratulations."

This must have been what Xiang Aoting told him... Shi Jin's eyebrows twitched as he replied, "Thank you, I'm doing well over here. But what about you? You go to the hospital and still only focus on work every day. Rest is important." After speaking, he glanced at Lian Jun, the indirect meaning of his words clear.

Lian Jun's lips curved into a smile as he reached out and pinched Shi Jin's face. As Shi Jin kept expressing his concern, Shi Weichong's voice finally softened and he replied, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. The doctors here are keeping an eye on me. By the way, your birthday is coming up soon. How do you plan on celebrating this year? Do you want to have a birthday party? The younger brothers want to celebrate with you."

"A birthday party?" Shi Jin was taken aback, only then realizing that his birthday was approaching. He looked at Lian Jun who was silently watching him and said, "There's no need for a birthday party. I might not even be in B city on my birthday. After I finish my work, I'll treat everyone to a meal and invite Big Brother to join us. We can all have a good time together."

As expected. Shi Weichong felt a little down, but he quickly picked himself up and said, "Okay, you go ahead and do your thing. The weather is starting to get colder, so make sure you keep warm."

"Okay, big brother," Shi Jin replied, then fell silent, unsure of how to continue the conversation.

Since the incident with Xu Jie, the five brothers of the Shi family had gradually become more caring and considerate towards him, with a hint of caution. People's hearts are made of flesh, and in the face of false concern, he could remain indifferent and even sarcastic. But in the face of this pure kindness, he could no longer reject it as coldly as he used to.

And then...a scene from military training flashed through his mind, the one where he left the field on Xiang Aoting's back. He curled his fingers and drifted off a bit - avoiding and ignoring wasn't the solution, only direct communication could truly resolve the knot in his heart.

Does he want to give everyone a chance for a complete reconciliation? Perhaps by understanding each brother's true thoughts, they could find the most suitable way to get along...but can broken feelings really be repaired? He didn't seem to have the right to do anything with the identity of the original owner...

"What are you thinking about?"

Suddenly, his face was held and a familiar face leaned in close.

Shi Jin snapped out of it and didn't answer the question, instinctively lowering his head to look at the phone on the table. "You haven't said anything, so I hung up the phone for you," explained Lian Jun. He then lifted up the lowered head of Shi Jin and looked into his eyes, saying, "If you want to do it, then go for it. Don't leave any regrets in your life. I will always stand behind you."

Upon hearing this, Shi Jin suddenly felt at ease. He no longer felt like the hesitant and indecisive person he was just moments ago. He clenched his fingers and said, "Then let's celebrate the New Year at the club this year." He also would also call for the five brothers of the Shi family to join them.

Without hesitation, Lian Jun nodded and replied, "Okay."

"Wait, you can't spend the winter here. It's too cold and you won't be able to handle it. This is an important time for you to take care of your health, we can't be careless." Shi Jin frowned, but immediately overturned his own words and thought for a moment before saying, "Then let's go to the island for the New Year, and before we leave, we can spend some time at the club. We'll pick a day when everyone is free and invite them to have a reunion dinner together. That way, we won't delay their time with their families and it'll be perfect!"

Both of them knew exactly who "everyone" referred to.

Lian Jun smiled and agreed, "Okay, we'll do it your way."

Shi Jin also smiled, leaned over to give him a kiss, then stood up and said happily, "I'll go let them know and ask them to keep a day free before the New Year."

With that, he turned around and went to grab his phone. As Lian Jun watched him perk up again, glancing at the phone and tablet constantly receiving new files on the table, he lowered his gaze and pondered. If they delayed a little longer, they might just be able to get through the New Year smoothly.

But he couldn't let his guard down.

......

The government and Annihilation suddenly stopped harassing the Tarantula, and not long after, an official and strongly-worded notice was sent to the public email addresses of the major organizations' leaders.

In the letter, the government explained in detail their reasons for taking action against the Tarantula and emphasized that they would not tolerate similar incidents in the future, with consequences to be borne by the offenders.

Of course, Lu Shan received this document as well. Although she had gathered her organization's forces and gone into hiding, her communication channels with the government remained open.

"Zhang Zhuoyuan is such a bastard! He just finished beating me up and now he's using the excuse of 'pardoning' and 'compensating' me to demand my cooperation in pacifying the economy of G province. He's dumping all the bad luck on me and treating me like a fool!" Lu Shan complained on the phone, clearly angered by the government's actions.

Shi Jin felt a bit awkward listening to her rant, as all the shameless demands the government was making of Tarantula were at the behest of Lian Jun.

Lian Jun had much thicker skin than Shi Jin, and without changing his expression, he smoothly changed the subject, asking, "Has the government lifted the restrictions on the companies they shut down before?"

"The restrictions at the port have been lifted and all the goods have been released. It makes me angry to think about it. Zhang Zhuoyuan personally called me, apologized, complained, sold favors, then gave me a hard time before finally agreeing to a small favor to settle the matter. You didn't hear him, he was talking in circles. Even someone less smart might have been fooled by him."

Lu Shan's face was black with anger and confusion. "He wasn't this difficult to deal with before. Has he been possessed or something? I almost got caught up in his words."

Shi Jin silently covered his face with a tablet, afraid that Lu Shan would see his expression. There was no doubt that the words Zhang Zhuoyuan said to Lu Shan were also taught by Lian Jun. Lian Jun remained unmoved, ignoring all of Lu Shan's complaints and only listening to the key points he wanted to hear.

"Not bad. You keep stalling with Zhang Zhuoyuan. Don't let this matter settle too quickly. Give Snake Fang a chance to see the situation and react."

"I understand, I understand. I'll be responsible for stalling Zhang Zhuoyuan. When you burned down my warehouse last time, Snake Fang took advantage of the chaos and even got his hands on some things on the treasure island. Luckily, you reminded me to hide everything beforehand, or I might have been screwed over by him. He dares to mess with me, see if I won't ruin him this time!" Lu Shan said, getting angry again as he spoke.

Lian Jun reminded her, "Don't be careless. Snake Fang still has some skills."

"You, you..." Lu Shan was being lectured by him like a junior, with a hint of helplessness on her face. "I'm actually your senior, and if you keep acting so old-fashioned, be careful that people will dislike you. Anyway, thanks for your suggestion. With the officials' harassment this time, I was able to release a large number of brothers in the subsidiaries, and the burden on my shoulders has finally lightened a bit."

"You're welcome." Hearing this, Lian Jun finally showed a different expression on his face and apologized, "I'm sorry for causing you to lose so much merchandise."

Lu Shan waved her hand to indicate that it was nothing and said, "Compared to people, merchandise is nothing... Alright, I have to go and get busy now. I'm hanging up." After speaking, she hung up the call.