The pre-dawn chill still clung to the air when Yi Xiaorou gently nudged me onto the living room sofa. Though neither of us was entirely willing, appearances had to be maintained. Whether my parents had noticed me slipping into Yi Xiaorou’s room last night was uncertain, but if they found me absent from the living room this morning, they would surely be furious again.

The Lunar New Year was fast approaching, and the construction site had shut down due to the holiday and the biting cold. Yet, Father still made his rounds daily to check on things; it was his solemn duty. In truth, not a single piece of material under his watch would dare be pilfered, as those vermin were fiercely loyal. While ordinary wild snakes were hibernating, the mutated giant serpents knew no such winter slumber.

No one mentioned the previous night’s events at breakfast. As Father prepared to leave afterward, he cautioned me, "Zhao Qian, you stay put at home today, don't go anywhere. Little Yi, if you have nothing pressing, stay and play another day; it’s almost the New Year, and your office should be letting out soon, too."

Yi Xiaorou was naturally reluctant to leave, but she understood she couldn't impose on me indefinitely. "Uncle, I have something in the morning. I’ll be leaving shortly."

Father was just pulling the door open as he spoke, when suddenly, a chorus of sharp screams erupted. I looked up to see—my heavens—Zhao Fen, Zhao Fang, and Little Raindrop had all arrived together. Was this how I was meant to live? Had every girl I knew, save for Zhang Xiaoya, visited my house?

Little Raindrop had stayed at my place for quite some time and was well-acquainted with my parents. She patted her chest reassuringly. "Uncle, you nearly gave us a fright! We were just about to knock when the door suddenly opened on its own."

"Little Yu, is that you? You startled me too. You’ve been gone so long and haven't returned; your aunt has been mentioning you constantly. Come in, come in! Where are you coming from so early in the morning?"

"She... they look exactly the same!"

Father, seeing Zhao Fen and Zhao Fang for the first time, was clearly startled. My mother, however, being a mother, recovered faster. "You must be twins, how alike you are! This is the first time I’ve ever seen twins look so identical."

"Uncle, Auntie, I’m Zhao Fen, and I’m Zhao Fang," they chirped, giggling. "We’re not twins; there’s a six-year age difference. We just happen to look very alike."

All three women noticed Yi Xiaorou sitting in the living room. Zhao Fang, who had intended to assert her older sister status, wisely kept quiet given the situation. Before these three had even settled down, Father went to leave, only to have two more young women pop out as he opened the door again.

These two girls were no small matter; they were the ones who had both claimed to be his girlfriend yesterday. How had they ended up together? And then there was the military officer inside, who had called herself his future daughter-in-law. What in the world was going on? He decided it was best to just go to work before his headache got worse at home.

Mother, seeing Fang Yanmeng and Xiao Chuchu arriving in tandem, coupled with the gathering of various girls of ambiguous relationship status inside, all exchanging pleasantries—the sight of this floral arrangement gave her a massive headache. After a moment’s thought, she picked up her vegetable basket and headed downstairs with Father, muttering to herself as they left, "This house is getting too small..."

"Everyone, quiet down! Did you all arrange to come at the same time today?"

Little Raindrop piped up, "Fenfen and Fangfang have something important to discuss with you; they said it wasn't safe over the phone, so I brought them here."

Fang Yanmeng added, "Chu Chu and I did too. Are we unwelcome? Did we interrupt the tender moment between you and Sister Xiao Rou?"

Yi Xiaorou flushed crimson with embarrassment. "Mengmeng, don't talk nonsense. I—I just got here too." Of course, she dared not mention the wild abandon of last night in someone's room.

As the only male present, I held the highest right to speak. "Everyone, sit down. Let’s address these things one by one."

Fang Yanmeng quickly took the lead. "We’ll go first. Here, this is the proposal for establishing three companies. Chu Chu and I discussed it in detail. We’ll register offshore companies in Hong Kong and two small nations along the Caribbean coast. First, this allows us to evade various business taxes and gain various national subsidies. Second, it helps conceal our true identities, because these three companies will eventually handle earth-shattering matters. Revealing our true identities could bring a lot of unnecessary trouble."

I flipped through the proposal as Xiao Chuchu stated, "I represent the National Television Station and am the first to lease your satellite system. We’ll expect significant discounts, or else... hehe."

Xiao Chuchu smiled meaningfully, glancing at Fang Yanmeng. I understood immediately; she still held that DV tape. "Fine, I’ll provide you a year of service free of charge."

Zhao Fang interjected from the side, "Brother Zhao, Chairman Li asked us to relay a message: he wants to represent the nation in leasing your entire satellite network."

I waved my hands hastily. "That won't do at all! If we do that, what use is establishing Universal Space for us?"

Little Raindrop agreed, "Exactly. That’s what I told them too. Fenfen and Fangfang asked for my opinion, and I immediately refused. However, I did agree to let them launch 24 medium-to-high orbit military reconnaissance satellites for the military separately. The launch schedule is set for next June."

"That works," I conceded. "Our other 30 satellites will primarily focus on civilian operations. As for our internal secret communications, I think we can use those 6 backup satellites instead. But this satellite system launched for the Republic's military absolutely cannot fall into the hands of the Tan family. Otherwise, it’s better if we don't launch anything."

The three women nodded. "We understand. We will specially leave backdoors in the design. If the Tan family gains control of this global satellite system, we will make them self-destruct."

Yi Xiaorou chimed in from the side, "Launching this many satellites at once is bound to arouse suspicion from other nations. Also, if the Tri-service Military's scale expands, 6 satellites won't be enough, considering a portion of our troops are machine soldiers who operate purely on command."

The three women pulled Yi Xiaorou into their circle. "Come over here, Sister Xiao Rou. Now that our Research Four-person Team is complete, you will focus primarily on Zhao Qian's work from now on. As for the High-End Weaponry Research Institute, we'll have the Chairman send a word over to put all their work on hold for now."

Zhao Fen and Zhao Fang had previously mentioned that the weapons research group wouldn't need to draw scientists from across the country; the three of them plus Yi Xiaorou would be sufficient. I hadn't agreed before due to Yi Xiaorou’s misunderstanding of me, but now that the four stars were aligned, and with the supercomputer Xiaohui, it would be hard not to develop world-altering weaponry.

Zhao Fen continued, "Military satellites are our weakness, but they are Sister Xiao Rou’s strength. This mission falls to you. Xiaohui managed to hack into the Star Nation’s space agency database and found a lot of data on military reconnaissance satellites. We can use that as a reference to develop our own, and we absolutely must have it ready before June, or we’ll break our promise to the Chairman regarding those 24 satellites."

Yi Xiaorou, experiencing a revitalization, responded with firm resolve, "No problem. Zhao Qian explained the base situation to me in detail. I’m confident we can have production blueprints ready in two months at the most, and one month will be enough time to manufacture this batch of military satellites."

Fang Yanmeng grew impatient. "Have you finished reading the plan yet? I'm waiting for your approval."

I carefully placed the proposal, rushed out overnight by Fang Yanmeng and Xiao Chuchu, onto the table. "I've finished reading it. It’s excellent. Thank you both so much. I’ll start handling it as soon as my dad’s anger subsides and he lets me out."

Fang Yanmeng snatched the proposal back. "By then, it’ll be too late! Besides, those four all have jobs—are Chu Chu and I supposed to just sightsee? You delegated the Red Dragon Security to Brother Hu, so we won't touch that. But Chu Chu and I will take the remaining two companies. Chu Chu is a journalist, so she’ll handle Universal Communications. I understand energy far better than you all, so Earth Energy is mine. Do you have any objections?"

I gave a pained look. "I do. What will I be doing?"

The six women pointed at me in unison. "You'll be the idle, wealthy young master!"

Alas, the fruits of labor had been 'confiscated.' It seemed my destiny was to be a kept man. Hmph, I should just go sell my tofu instead!

Zhao Fen pulled a bank card from her bag—it was identical to the platinum card I had at the National Bank, only the account number was different.

"Brother Zhao, the Chairman asked me to give this to you. It contains one billion yuan, which is the payment for the five tons of gold you brought back. Since you delivered a Type-096 nuclear attack submarine and even threw in an old diesel-electric submarine for free, the Chairman calculated the gold at 200 yuan per gram as slight compensation for your losses. He also said that every subsequent submarine will be purchased from you for 500 million RMB."

Heh, looks like I'm rich again. I couldn't refuse this money; it was needed to establish the companies. I took the card from Zhao Fen, then reluctantly handed it over to Fang Yanmeng. After all, if they were managing the companies, shouldn't I entrust them with the capital?

Although Fang Yanmeng came from money, she was still a student, and this was the first time she had handled a billion yuan. "Chu Chu, let’s split it—five hundred million each! We’re rich!"

Xiao Chuchu looked at me. "You're giving all the money to us. What about Red Dragon Security?"

I patted the salary card in my pocket. "That idiot Chen Wanzhi gave me ten million. Red Dragon only needs to rent an office; it won't require major investment. Ten million is more than enough."

Speaking of which, I was now a minor millionaire. Although the hundred million had been given to Taozi along with the platinum card for financial investment, I still had six million left over from setting up the Iron Bull Tofu Company, plus the ten million deposited when Chen Wanzhi tried to frame me. That should be enough for me to splurge for a while.

While everyone in the living room was excitedly discussing matters, a knock suddenly sounded at the door. That was strange. If it were my mother, she’d have a key. With all the girls here, surely no one else would be visiting?