The next day, Number One brought a report on the progress of the meeting preparations: the ships for departure were already in place, various supplies were being transported one after another, and personnel were also being gathered. Before April arrived, everything would definitely be ready.

After carefully reading the report, Shi Jin called Zhang Zhuoyuan to ask if the date for this year's conference had been set.

This was the first time Shi Jin had contacted Zhang Zhuoyuan officially as the deputy leader of Annihilation, and Zhang Zhuoyuan felt a bit uncomfortable and even looked down on him privately. He remembered that last year, Shi Jin was just a small lackey pushing a wheelchair for Lian Jun. With Zhang Zhuoyuan's status, he didn't even need to look at him directly.

But now, taking advantage of Lian Jun's illness, Shi Jin had transformed into the spokesperson for Annihilation, and everyone had to flatter him.

What's the point? Lian Jun can't handle this kind of thing, why not let Number One come instead? He's just a newly adult kid buried in his homework on the couch, completely unworthy of the position of deputy leader. He should just be protected honestly, why pretend to be a deputy leader? As Zhang Zhuoyuan thought to himself, he couldn't help but sound a bit insincere and pretentious in his words.

Shi Jin wasn't in the mood to play any mind games with him, so he simply hung up the phone upon seeing Zhang Zhuoyuan's behavior.

Number One raised an eyebrow and smirked at the situation.

A few minutes later, Zhang Zhuoyuan called back and launched into a lengthy speech, but Shi Jin hung up on him again without giving him any face.

After this happened twice, even Zhang Zhuoyuan, who wasn't the brightest, understood that Shi Jin didn't want him to be too overbearing. He was tempted to ignore him, but he remembered Lian Jun's instructions and reluctantly made another call.

"Date," Shi Jin got straight to the point when he answered the phone. Zhang Zhuoyuan was taken aback, but he suppressed the urge to retort and replied, "The Lunar New Year will end early this year, and there is a plan to hold the meeting earlier. The specific date has not been set, but it is basically confirmed to be in early April. Please prepare to set sail at the end of March."

"Thank you for letting me know," Shi Jin said politely. Then his tone turned cold as he continued, "Director Zhang, I can overlook your perfunctory attitude today, but there is something I want to remind you of. If something were to happen to Lian Jun, the next leader of Annihilation will only be me. Don't neglect me now, or you'll regret it later. Don't think that just because I'm young, you can manipulate me. My upbringing is not as good as Lian Jun's, but it's not bad either."

Zhang Zhuoyuan was taken aback. He almost blurted out, "What did you do to Mr. Lian?" He stiffly replied, "Mr. Shi, you're joking. Mr. Lian knows that you--"

Shi Jin hung up the phone again, determined to teach Zhang Zhuoyuan a lesson today. These old hands in the officialdom were the most annoying. If he didn't shake the other party at the first encounter, even if they cooperated in the future, they probably wouldn't get the maximum help and honesty from the other party.

"What a bastard who judges people by their appearance." He frowned and muttered to himself. Seeing Number One looking at him, his expression stiffened. He silently suppressed his emotions and said seriously, "Prepare to set sail at the end of March. This year's meeting will start a little earlier."

Number One held back his laughter and replied, "Yes." After settling the meeting date, Shi Jin silently reflected on his lack of maturity. He then looked at the mountain of documents on his desk, gathered his spirits, and reached for one.

Although Lian Jun had arranged for Number One and others to share the workload, they had other things to attend to. As the only "idle person", Shi Jin had to do what he could.

Half an hour later, he was stuck on a decision document that was clearly beyond his knowledge. He thought about asking Lian Jun for his opinion, but he suppressed the urge due to his current discomfort. After hesitating for a moment, he chose to call Shi Weichong and said, "Big brother, I have something to ask you about the integration of A City's external business. I..."

On the other side of the Earth, Shi Weichong was staring at his phone in confusion. It took him more than ten seconds to realize that Shi Jin had called him for help and was still requesting it. After snapping out of his daze, he almost jumped out of his chair and strode towards his study, saying, "Is this about foreign trade? I have a special section on it in your notes... Wait a moment, let me grab some paper and a pen. You can take your time explaining, I have all day. If you have any questions, just ask."

For the rest of the day, Shi Jin was busy with paperwork, seeking advice from Shi Weichong, and approving documents. They didn't even notice that this was the first time they had a long conversation without any negative emotions since Xu Jie's incident, no, since Shi Xingrui's death. After a long day of work, Shi Jin had dinner with Fei Yujing and then went to the laboratory. With the help of Li Jiuzheng, he put on a sterile suit and entered the isolation ward to visit Lian Jun.

Lian Jun was awake, leaning on the bed and watching the news on TV. He actually wanted to work, but Uncle Long wouldn't allow it, and even forbade him from touching books. When he saw Shi Jin coming in, he quickly turned off the TV and reached out to him, asking, "Have you had dinner?"

Shi Jin nodded, didn't shake his hand, and just hugged him. Lian Jun was taken aback, then gently hugged him back and asked, "Did I scare you a few days ago?"

Shi Jin shook his head and hugged him quietly until he was sure that all his feelings of missing and worrying had settled down. Then he sat up and smiled, "No, I just missed you. Oh, by the way, I contacted Zhang Zhuoyuan today and asked about the meeting date. I also helped you process half of the documents."

"You're amazing. Did Zhang Zhuoyuan give you a hard time? And what about the documents, did you have any trouble understanding them?" Lian Jun asked, following his lead. He was smiling, but there wasn't much happiness in his eyes.

"Zhang Zhuoyuan was pretty easy to deal with. There were some parts of the documents that I didn't understand, so I wrote them down. Can you teach me?" Shi Jin took out a small notebook and a pen, looking like a student asking for help from a teacher. As he watched him try to act normal, Lian Jun lowered his eyes and gently squeezed his hand, saying, "Okay."

The two of them talked about work for over an hour, and the atmosphere was relatively relaxed. Shi Jin restrained himself and packed up his things before nine o'clock, ready to leave.

"I will try to move out of here and be with you as soon as possible." Lian Jun couldn't help but call out to Shi Jin before he left, making a soft promise.

Shi Jin stopped in his tracks as he left, turned around, and hugged him again.

......

Time passed unknowingly, February passed, and March arrived.

Lian Jun was unable to move out of the isolation ward as he had promised. His symptoms became more and more severe, with nausea and vomiting becoming increasingly serious. He often couldn't eat a single bite of food all day, and his body grew weaker day by day.

Every day, Shi Jin would accompany him, doing his best to help him relax and find ways to get him to eat. In the process, Shi Jin became more stable, no longer acting so casually and unnaturally when issuing commands to Number One and the others. His document approvals improved, and his communication with Shi Weichong became more regular.

Everyone noticed his changes and couldn't help but feel emotional - when faced with difficulties, Shi Jin was indeed the one who grew the fastest. Unfortunately, this kind of growth was probably the last thing Lian Jun wanted to see.

In early March, Fei Yujing flew out of the island to work on the finishing touches of the energy department. In mid-March, it was Lian Jun's birthday. Despite Lian Jun being in a continuous coma, Shi Jin put on the birthday gift he had prepared for him. By the end of March, Li Jiuzheng took off his white coat and began preparing to sail with Shi Jin to attend the conference at any time.

On the day of departure, Shi Jin went alone to Lian Jun's ward.

It had been over a month, and Lian Jun had already experienced the symptoms caused by the neurotoxin. His body, which had been relatively well-maintained, had become worse than when they first met. He was as thin as a skeleton, with no trace of blood on his face. He spent most of his time in a coma than awake and was completely unable to move.

Shi Jin's eyes were dim and his heart ached. No wonder Uncle Long insisted that Lian Jun's body be fully rested and prepared before starting treatment. Without prior preparation, Lian Jun might not have been able to withstand the seemingly endless torture of the toxins.

When will he get better? Will it really take three months, six months, or even longer...

"The most active period of the toxins has already passed." Uncle Long appeared behind him at some point and reassured him, "Don't be fooled by his appearance. This is actually a relatively good situation. Losing weight is inevitable due to the nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite caused by the toxins. These symptoms are long-term and require gradual recovery after the active period of the toxins has passed. As for the problem of his legs being unable to move, there's no need to worry. Once the toxins are gone, he will recover quickly."

"I know," said Shi Jin, turning to look at Uncle Long. "Can I go in and see him? Just for a little while. I know he's weak right now, but..."

"Go ahead, just make sure to disinfect first. He can't afford to get sick again," Uncle Long replied, patting his shoulder. "By the time you finish your meeting, he might even be able to get out of bed, so don't worry too much."

Shi Jin glanced at the progress bar in his mind, which had reached 500, and nodded quietly.

......

After changing clothes and disinfecting, Shi Jin entered the hospital room and sat down by the bedside.

Lian Jun lay flat on his back with an IV in his arm, but at least he had removed the oxygen mask and no longer looked like a critically ill patient. Shi Jin looked at Lian Jun's face, then took his hand and pulled out a ring from his pocket. He gently slipped it onto Lian Jun's ring finger.

The ring was a bit too big, and Shi Jin tightened his lips as he touched Lian Jun's finger. He had secretly prepared this ring a long time ago through Number Two's contacts. It had the same design as the engagement ring Lian Jun had given him, but with a blue diamond that looked elegant and luxurious, perfectly matching Lian Jun's temperament.

He had originally planned to give the ring to Lian Jun as a surprise on his birthday, but he didn't expect Lian Jun to experience symptoms of confusion that day and fall into a coma after taking medication. Although he eventually put the ring on Lian Jun's finger, he still felt like something was missing.

"You have to gain weight quickly," he said in a low voice. "Don't lose it again this time."

The ring was made to fit Lian Jun's finger size before he fell ill, but now it was a bit too big. On the second day of Lian Jun's birthday, when he came to visit him, he found that the ring he had put on Lian Jun the day before had somehow rolled onto the ground. After picking it up, he put it back in his pocket, wondering if he should have it resized.

But now, he didn't want to change it anymore. "If you can't gain enough weight to fit this ring perfectly, then we're done," he said, taking off the ring and pulling out a thin red thread. Carefully wrapping it around the ring, he said, "For now, let's make do with this."

Round after round, the diamond's brilliance was obscured by the red thread until it disappeared completely. He carefully tightened the thread, removing any excess, and then took Lian Jun's hand, carefully placing the ring back on his finger.

"It fits perfectly," he said, holding Lian Jun's hand and intertwining their fingers. "Get better soon. You promised to pick me up after the conference, so don't break your word."