Leia frowned, suspecting Jiang Ye was cursing her with ancient profanities, but she had no proof.
"How's the engineering?" Jiang Ye asked.
"How else do you think it is? Can't you see for yourself?" Leia pouted.
Jiang Ye almost choked. He just wanted them to communicate normally, to bury the hatchet, but Leia clearly wasn't going to talk to him properly.
"If we were to build a high bridge across the desert, a bridge that sand-worms couldn't climb, how much funding would that roughly require?" Jiang Ye decided to get to the point.
He wanted to accelerate his expansion, but the desert was too dangerous and too vast. Neither crossing it directly nor taking a detour was feasible. The fastest solution would be a bridge that could traverse the desert.
"Don't worry, you can't afford it," Leia said bluntly.
"How do you know I can't afford it?" Jiang Ye asked, slightly annoyed.
"A desert like this, a moving desert, and construction would have to avoid sand-worms. The funding would start at tens of billions," Leia said, crossing her arms haughtily.
Jiang Ye sighed. He really couldn't afford it.
"Alright, you be busy then," Jiang Ye said indifferently. "Once the farms you're in charge of are all built, I'll give you a big surprise."
With that, Jiang Ye turned and walked away.
Leia stared at him, confused. A big surprise? What kind of big surprise could it be?
She had a feeling it wouldn't be anything good, but she didn't want to talk to this country bumpkin Jiang Ye. She turned her head and continued to watch the construction site.
Jiang Ye drove straight to the logistics center.
The courier spaceship had already left, and Isabella had been busy picking up new immigrants from various parts of the planet these past few days.
He sent her a message using the base's panel, asking when she would be back.
An hour and a half later. Isabella quickly replied, "Eat and drink something, and wait a bit."
Jiang Ye swiped his face to enter and went upstairs, plopping down on the sofa. He had visited Isabella's home so many times that it felt like his own.
Bored, he took out his phone to play.
He opened the "Mall." With a few taps, he downloaded the "Fan Pai Zi" and "Ri Shi Bi" apps.
After all, they were the only two apps on this planet, and they were social in nature. Jiang Ye wanted to try them out. He couldn't gauge public opinion normally, but perhaps he could hear some voices from the common people online.
The download was fast, and the apps were installed in seconds.
Jiang Ye clicked on "Fan Pai Zi" first. The app icon was a small golden plaque, very similar to the ones the emperor flipped in palace dramas.
He started by registering a new account.
He could use his real name or a username.
Jiang Ye, being discreet, casually entered "Da Wei Tian Long" as his username.
Next, he selected his gender and preferred gender for matching.
Jiang Ye was traditional, choosing male for his own gender and female for his preferred gender.
For the avatar, he chose the default one, a male face with no visible features.
Then came a series of personal information questions: Do you have a car? Do you have a house? What is your job? How much savings do you have?
Jiang Ye silently scoffed. How many years had it been, and these were still the classic questions?
However, he was starting to like this app. Based on the information gathered, it seemed to be a legitimate app aiming to match users for marriage, not some strange software.
Finally, he entered the usage interface.
A string of information popped up:
[Your current dating zone is: M78 Nebula · Jiang Ye Colony]
[Currently, there are 3782 male users and 3660 female users]
[Click to flip the plaque and draw your exclusive destiny!]
[New accounts receive one free plaque flip!]
In the center of the screen appeared a small, golden plaque with a red tassel.
Jiang Ye poked it with his finger. With a crisp sound, the plaque flipped over!
[Username: Pu Simeng]
[Age: 22]
[Occupation: General's Secretary]
[Income: Owns a house, monthly salary of 100,000]
[Hobbies: Many]
The avatar was an oval-faced girl with alluring eyes, ruby lips, and long, delicate hair. She was so beautiful she looked like a stock photo. But the online world on this planet was still barren, so this photo was most likely her selfie.
However, why was her occupation listed as General's Secretary?
Jiang Ye was bewildered. When did he get such a beautiful secretary?
Below her plaque were two buttons, red and green:
[Destined, let's chat] [Flip another card]
Jiang Ye hadn't intended to chat. After all, he wasn't short of beautiful women. He was just testing the app's functionality. But Pu Simeng's occupation information did pique his curiosity.
He clicked on "Destined, let's chat."
The private chat interface immediately appeared, along with a prompt: "May the matchmaker bless you, you are already friends, start chatting!"
Pu Simeng: "Hello handsome! You flipped me!"
For some reason, Jiang Ye felt a little excited.
Da Wei Tian Long: "Hello beautiful, I saw your information, your occupation is General's Secretary?"
Pu Simeng: "Yes, yes, what's wrong?"
Da Wei Tian Long: "Which General?"
Pu Simeng: "Who else could it be but General Jiang Ye! I've been his secretary for over a month, usually helping him serve tea and handle some confidential documents. What do you do, handsome?"
"I am the General himself." Jiang Ye barely managed to suppress the urge to type this.
He wanted to see what this Pu Simeng was up to by impersonating the General's secretary.
Da Wei Tian Long: "I work as a handyman in the army, similar to your job, sweeping floors and pouring tea. General Jiang has been at the military base these past few days, why didn't I see you with him?"
Pu Simeng: "Ah, I live at his house. I don't usually go out with him. Don't overthink it, the General has a mansion in another district, and we don't live in the same building. It's purely for work convenience."
Jiang Ye thought to himself, "Good heavens, when did someone start living in my house? Are you hiding under the bed? Or hanging from the ceiling like Spider-Man?"
Pu Simeng: "Handsome, do you have a girlfriend? Do you want a temporary girlfriend?"
Da Wei Tian Long: "Of course not, I came to try out 'Fan Pai Zi'. What is a temporary girlfriend?"
Pu Simeng: "It means when you need someone, I'll accompany you. For example, I'm free tonight!"
Then, a photo that made one's nose bleed was sent. A body in a white gauze dress lay on the bed, with exquisite curves, fair and tender skin, and a cleavage that seemed unfathomable.
Before Jiang Ye could properly admire it, the photo was quickly withdrawn.
Pu Simeng: "Oops, I sent it by mistake."
Pu Simeng: "How about it? Do you need a girlfriend tonight? But you have to give me eight thousand yuan for travel expenses."
At this point, Jiang Ye finally understood.
She was someone doing business online, fabricating the identity of the General's secretary to boost her price.
He couldn't let her continue her fraudulent activities; she had to be severely punished!
Jiang Ye pondered for a few seconds and decided to set a trap.
Da Wei Tian Long: "I want to see you now, are you free? I'll give you a location, can we meet?"
Pu Simeng: "Oh, General Jiang just asked me to organize a document for him, so I can't get away right now."
Da Wei Tian Long: "I'll give you ten thousand."
Pu Simeng: "But work is not as important as you!"
Jiang Ye decisively transferred ten thousand yuan.
"Second Avenue in Binhai City, walk a hundred meters east from the restaurant, there's a small alley, let's meet there."
"Okay, okay, I'm leaving now, I'll be there in about twenty minutes."