Chapter 309 These are all my lyrics!

[Little Li, if you have something to say, say it to my face.]

Looking at that newly refreshed, incredibly brief reply on his phone screen...

Li Jiajun was completely dumbfounded.

He stared blankly at that line of text, his eyes not even blinking, as if those weren't a few Chinese characters, but some kind of life-taking rune from outer space.

'What the hell do you mean, say it to my face?!'

He let out a roar in his heart loud enough to shatter eardrums.

'No, how did you even do that?'

'What kind of operation is this even?'

'Wait, what?'

The massive amount of information colliding with an extremely absurd reality caused Li Jiajun's brain to experience a brief crash at this moment.

However...

After the initial shock and blankness, his brain began to spin rapidly.

Countless images and details, like scattered puzzle pieces, quickly snapped together and reorganized in his mind.

A terrifying fact gradually took shape in his mind as he fully untangled the situation.

'This whole thing was a setup!'

'Liu Jianguo was the one fishing!'

This thought emerged in his heart.

...

Li Jiajun felt his breathing grow heavy as he replayed everything that had happened during this period in his head.

He understood now.

He finally understood everything.

No wonder that old fellow Liu Jianguo had been so kind on WeChat a few days ago, proactively pointing out a so-called "absolutely safe" and "risk-free" R&D direction for him.

After all that, it wasn't some kind-hearted guidance at all.

It was to make him lower his guard first, to make him relax his vigilance completely!

Once he naively believed that making a Fishing Rod was absolutely safe, and had even moved to a new factory area specifically to avoid the man's bad luck...

This old fellow put on an inconspicuous alternate identity!

He had lurked in that QQ group for anglers that Li frequented.

When Li wanted to do market research, he disguised himself as a "Seasoned Old Angler" who knew life and loved fishing, proactively striking up a conversation.

Then, during their chats, he calmly and step-by-step guided him!

Bit by bit, he tossed out those utterly extreme technical requirements!

Things like six thousand megapascals of strength, three hundred gigapascals of modulus, and resistance to high temperatures of two hundred degrees!

Recalling it now, Li Jiajun only felt his scalp go numb with shock.

At the time, he had actually been foolish enough to think this was just a hardcore old angler's ultimate pursuit of top-tier gear, so he hadn't thought much of it, conducting R&D entirely with the mindset of meeting a customer's needs.

Now he finally knew.

Where was there any fanatical love for fishing?

Where was there any hardcore angler?

He was clearly using the technical specifications of cutting-edge military materials to play him!

He was clearly an insidious and cunning "man-angler"!

...

Having figured out the ins and outs of the whole thing...

Li Jiajun's expression changed.

From the previous pallor and panic, it instantly turned into the annoyance of being completely backstabbed by an acquaintance.

A massive surge of anger from being deceived and toyed with, like an active volcano suppressed for a long time, suddenly erupted from his chest and shot straight to the top of his head.

He felt like a monkey being played!

A monkey in a circus being lured step-by-step through a ring of fire by someone holding a banana!

And that animal trainer holding the whip and the banana was this calm-looking Liu Jianguo right in front of him!

'Well played, Uncle Liu!'

'I treated you as an elder.'

'And you actually played this Infernal Affairs act with me?!'

'To get my technology for free, you've completely thrown away your shame, haven't you?!'

Li Jiajun was speechless to the extreme, but also furious to the extreme.

He felt that he had suffered too much injustice today.

These were clearly civilian products he had worked hard to develop, yet now they were being requisitioned again.

He could not swallow this insult no matter what!

He suddenly looked up, staring with wide, angry eyes at Liu Jianguo standing across the desk.

His chest puffed up high as he took a deep, long breath.

He opened his mouth, his tongue pressing against his teeth.

He was ready.

He was going to take all the grievances accumulated during this time, all the fury of being deceived, and turn them into the most beautiful Eastern Country words, spraying them at this "Old Fox" like a machine gun.

He was going to expose this old fellow's true face to his face!

He was going to let the other party know that he wasn't someone to be bullied so easily!

However...

Just as the first syllable formed in Li Jiajun's throat, just as he was about to start his passionate rant...

The situation...

Underwent an unexpected change.

...

Liu Jianguo, who had been standing opposite him with an expressionless, even slightly profound aura just a moment ago...

Suddenly moved.

He spoke first, beating Li Jiajun to his first word.

This battle-hardened old comrade's originally dark face suddenly showed an expression of extreme grief and despair.

That grief didn't look faked; it was as if he had truly suffered the most inhumane torture in the world.

His eyes turned red instantly.

He extended a finger that was trembling slightly from over-excitement, pointing it straight at Li Jiajun.

Then, Liu Jianguo raised his voice, a clear sob in his tone, as he loudly accused him with tears streaming down his face:

"Little Li!"

"You... you've screwed me over so badly!"

This cry of sorrow exploded in the quiet office, carrying endless resentment.

"The vacation I worked so hard to apply for!"

As Liu Jianguo accused him, he slapped his thigh in pain.

"Why did you have to play me like this?"

"On one hand, you told me there was no progress, but on the other, you added me on QQ and sent me the Fishing Rod!"

"You knew perfectly well that if I took this Fishing Rod abroad, I'd be stopped and it would be confiscated!"

"You... you're too cruel!"

Liu Jianguo took the fright he suffered in the airport's special security channel, the cold shoulder from his wife, his daughter's "father-pitting" comments, and the despair of almost being shot on the spot as a spy...

And blended them all into this tearful accusation.

The performance was vivid and thorough, truly enough to make anyone who saw or heard it feel sorrowful.

...

With the end of Liu Jianguo's preemptive strike...

The office fell back into a bizarre atmosphere.

Li Jiajun's originally puffed-up chest was like a balloon pricked by a needle, instantly deflating.

That mouthful of beautiful Eastern Country words he had prepared to spray out was stuck firmly in his throat.

He stared blankly at the tearful, accusing Liu Jianguo standing opposite him.

This extremely unscrupulous, counter-accusing move completely stunned the protagonist.

His brain completely stopped working.

He even forgot what he had been trying to do just now.

He looked at this "Old Fox" who had seized the moral high ground and was playing the perfect victim.

The corner of Li Jiajun's mouth twitched violently.

He stood there, dumbfounded.

At this moment, only one thought echoed wildly in his mind:

'Holy crap?'

'This...'

'Aren't these all my damn lines?!'