Chapter Three: A Crack in Success

A year later, Xu Chen’s firm, Shoreline Strategy, occupied an entire floor beside the river. He no longer wore the shirt washed thin at the cuffs. His mother had finished rehab. Lin Wan kept a pot of mint on his office sill, saying it did more than expensive decorations to remind a person that living things needed water. Starport had become an industry case study; Zhou Qiming was under investigation for diverting company resources. One by one, impossibilities had found a road after Xu sincerely believed in them. The system had grown quieter. It appeared only when he hesitated, a short prompt like a confirmation key in his pocket. Until June 16.