The Guide to Conquering Earthlings

Chapter 52

Wan Yan was looking forward to seeing Xie Cheng with great anticipation. She dressed up carefully, spending nearly a month's salary on a dress and spraying on new perfume, just waiting for this candlelight dinner date between the two.

Although it was said to be a work-related talk, Wan Yan felt that since there was an opportunity for private contact, there was hope. Moreover, Xie Cheng would surely see through a fickle person like Lan Xi. At this moment, her own appearance like a blossoming flower would surely make him look at her in a new light.

However, what Wan Yan did not expect was that although Xie Cheng arrived at the restaurant on time, he had brought Lan Xi with him.

The two were not holding hands, but the tenderness in Xie Cheng's eyes could not conceal that he was almost constantly paying attention to Lan Xi's every move.

"Because the work matters you wanted to discuss, Lan Xi's side will also have access to relevant data. So I brought Lan Xi along," Xie Cheng gave a high-sounding reason, but Wan Yan did not buy it at all. Although it was true that Lan Xi had a good grasp of data, she had been transferred to Cheng'an and was not connected with some of the current data.

Naturally, there was nothing that could find fault in Xie Cheng. He had agreed to meet Wan Yan to discuss work matters, so he went all out focusing on several issues to have an in-depth discussion with Wan Yan. His questions were incisive, and the suggestions he gave were also very pertinent and professional.

Once he went into work mode, he did not have any irrelevant topics with Lan Xi at all. Lan Xi also did not interrupt at all, just listening quietly. But Wan Yan became even more bothered by this.

What bothered her was that indefinable ambiguity and tacit understanding between them, even though there were no overtly questionable actions between them.

Xie Cheng would call over a waiter when Lan Xi stuck out her tongue after sipping some cocktail that was too strong for her, and change her drink to juice. He would hand her a tissue when she coughed. When Lan Xi took more than a couple bites of a dish that was far for her to easily reach, he would help pick up some for her...

As Xie Cheng's former schoolmate, Wan Yan had seen many times how coolly and distantly Xie Cheng treated his admirers. Therefore, the matter-of-fact thoughtfulness he displayed towards Lan Xi pained and distressed Wan Yan even more.

Why Lan Xi?

What made her so special?

Just because she was pretty?

Wan Yan's eyes and nose stung badly. One's eyes cannot lie. Xie Cheng liked Lan Xi. So he would not even mind Lan Xi's past, her background, her eccentricities...

A dinner that Wan Yan had looked forward to ended up ruining her appetite, leaving her feeling defeated. Anger and frustration swept over her, so when Xie Jing called to invite her over for tea, she did not turn him down.

She desperately needed someone to vent to.

**

Xie Jing had originally been extremely anxious and impatient. After hearing his son's report, he was simply furious:

"Don't you have abundant experience fooling around with women? Your name floats around the entertainment section headlines every day. Either some woman is fighting over you, or you're cheating on another one. You haven't accomplished anything worthwhile, but your only competence seems to be these male-female relationships. And now when I asked you to seduce a country bumpkin of a girl, even you can't succeed!"

As a result, Xie Yunfei still argued slyly: "Dad, you can't blame me either. There seems to be something wrong with that girl's brain. She says whatever absurd thing that pops into her head. I thought things were going well, but suddenly this girl applied to transfer back from Cheng'an to Cheng Xin again. She hardly picks up my calls or replies to my texts..."

Xie Yunfei clearly did not want to admit failure and was trying to find all sorts of excuses to shirk responsibility.

Opportunity favors the prepared mind. After racking his brains, he did manage to come up with an idea: "Dad, I heard gossip say that this Lan Xi has autism spectrum disorder, with severe social and communication impairments. When people chat with her, her replies often don't make sense. She also has comprehension issues. Sometimes her behavior and speech are like she's from outer space, totally inappropriate."

"My skills at seducing girls have never failed before. If even I can't succeed with her, it's not my problem. She's the one with issues!"

...

Looking at his incompetent son, Xie Jing felt his headache worsening. He shouldn't have placed any hopes on him in the first place. What could that good-for-nothing accomplish?

He would have to take matters into his own hands and make an effort to salvage the situation.

Xie Jing thought for a bit, then hurriedly gave Wan Yan a call. Under the guise of caring for his junior, he invited her over to his house for tea and to chat and reminisce.

Xie Jing did regularly meet up with Wan Yan as well. He had also probed in a roundabout way, trying to obtain information about Cheng Xin Technology from Wan Yan. But although Wan Yan was quite unguarded with him about other matters, venting about the difficulties of work, Xie Cheng's inconsideration, and annoying colleagues, her lips sealed up tight when it came to anything involving work information. Her professional ethics left Xie Jing speechless.

However, that was the past.

After all, in Xie Jing's perspective, Wan Yan's feelings for Xie Cheng were already evident.

The main reason why Wan Yan desperately tried to safeguard Xie Cheng and protect Cheng Xin Technology's trade secrets was because of these feelings. So now, if Xie Cheng and Lan Xi did end up together, wouldn't these former feelings transform? Intense love, if unrequited, can easily turn into intense hatred.

Soon, Xie Jing got his answer.

Wan Yan came to Xie Jing's house looking completely crestfallen. She nearly burst into tears the moment she saw Xie Jing. Just a few leading words from Xie Jing, and Wan Yan really did spill all her bitterness without restraint:

"How could Big Brother Xie Cheng fall for Lan Xi's tricks! That woman really is shameless, she seduced Big Brother Yunfei in the past too!"

Here was the moment Xie Jing had been waiting for. He put on the expression of a kindly uncle and sympathetically patted Wan Yan's back to comfort her for a few moments, before he started to slowly reel her in.

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"Wan Yan, actually Uncle also has a favor to ask of you. Right now, it seems that it would actually be for the better. After all, your Big Brother Xie Cheng is still my nephew. Finding such a lousy woman now, if I don't interfere, the business will surely be ruined by that woman. You know that the meteorological software system Cheng Xin Technology is about to launch is its most valuable product, right?"

"Of course if the intellectual property rights are kept in Xie Cheng's hands there won't be an issue, but Xie Cheng is now completely bewitched by Lan Xi... If they actually get married in the future and she becomes the new mistress, then with such a huge fortune under her control, won't she just ask for whatever she wants!"

Xie Jing tempted her persuasively: "You should know that gold-digging women like her only care about money. As long as the man has money, she'll cling on tightly and never let go. So when will you ever have a chance for your Big Brother Xie Cheng to see your sincerity? The only way to possibly drive Lan Xi away is to let Xie Cheng suffer some losses first and get hit hard. When he loses his wealth and becomes destitute, that woman will naturally leave. And at that time when Xie Cheng is in a fragile state, if you keep him company, only then would he see people's true colors and cherish you more. Isn't that right?"

Sure enough, Wan Yan stopped crying. Her brows were slightly furrowed as she looked probingly at Xie Jing. "Uncle Xie, what you mean is..."

"What I mean is, you are also a core employee of Cheng Xin. If you can get the data and core source code for the meteorological software that's about to launch and bring it out to me, I can have Cheng'an publish it first and occupy the priority rights to this intellectual property. Wouldn't that both protect the ownership of the software, and give Xie Cheng an opportunity to see those around him clearly?"

Xie Jing's voice was full of temptation: "After all, Lan Xi is an outsider who just wants to latch onto wealth. But with the software kept within our own trusted circle in Cheng Xin and Cheng'an, still under the Xie family name, wouldn't you agree?"

"Of course, it's not like I haven't arranged for others to do this too, but to be honest, I feel that they are not as reliable as you."

Xie Jing set the stage, tempting, implying, and goading.

After a while, it looked like Wan Yan was moved.

After pondering silently for a moment, it seemed she had made a decision—

"I can do it, but I don't want too many people working on this simultaneously. As you know, Big Brother Xie Cheng is very shrewd. I don't want anything to leak out and have him find out in the end. So Uncle Xie Jing, I hope you can call off your other subordinates. Let me be the only one to handle this. Is that okay?"

Of course it was okay! Better than okay! With Wan Yan willing to make a move, wouldn't that be much more reliable than anyone else? After all, she was close to Xie Cheng and had more access privileges to Cheng Xin's internal data.

Wan Yan paused for a moment, glanced at Xie Jing, and continued, "However, it would be best if you could give me a list of your people's names so that I can coordinate with them when necessary."

Naturally, that's no problem!

Xie Jing was overjoyed. Although he had planted some people in Xie Cheng's company, none of them had access to core secrets like Wan Yan. Now that Wan Yan was willing to backstab and steal data because of love turned into hatred, nothing could be better.

According to Xie Jing's knowledge, the copyright of Xie Cheng's meteorological software was still in the application process. If everything went smoothly, the certificate would be issued soon, and Xie Cheng would immediately launch the software after obtaining the certificate.

Therefore, if Xie Jing could publish it first before Xie Cheng finished the application, seizing the opportunity, then even if he was sued in the future, he could plead his case using the defense of prior publication and eventually get a share of the profits.

After bidding Wan Yan farewell, Xie Jing's mood finally brightened up again.

Now it's steady!

Xie Cheng, did you expect this?

He was filled with complex emotions. After all, women should not be involved in big matters. No matter how smart a woman is, the moment she encounters love, she loses all reason. Although Wan Yan was well-educated, the moment Xie Cheng was mentioned, she became hot-headed.

Women, after all, have long hair but short wisdom.

Thinking of this, he still had the advantage of being born a son compared to women.

After easing his mood, Xie Jing looked at Xie Yunfei again and found him much more pleasing to the eye.

Xie Yunfei clearly also felt Xie Jing's change of mood. He seized the opportunity and said, "Dad, that Xie Cheng is definitely not normal. Just listen to what little Yan said earlier. He got together with Lan Xi. What does this show? It shows that Xie Cheng is also a lecherous person. Otherwise, how could he make a move on someone like Lan Xi, who has some mental disabilities and obstacles? In fact, little Yan is silly too. Could Xie Cheng possibly take Lan Xi as his future companion? He just wants to play with her because she is so beautiful."

Speaking of this, Xie Yunfei became dissatisfied again, "In fact, women like Lan Xi are very easy to deceive if one really wants to trick them. I only approached her in the normal way of pursuing a woman at first because I didn't know she was abnormal, had autism. If I had known about her disability, I would not have been so gradual. I would have just tricked her into bed. Isn't coaxing someone with autism similar to coaxing a child? Buying them two of their favorite ice creams could probably get them to do anything..."

...

Xie Yunfei had no particular intention in saying this, but his words suddenly gave Xie Jing a brilliant idea—

The highest level of business warfare is often conducted in the simplest forms.

In addition to directly persuading Wan Yan to help embezzle critical data, Xie Jing decided to also wage a public opinion war, first defeating Xie Cheng's reputation and miring him in scandals to restrain his energy.

A two-pronged approach would be perfect.

**

While Xie Jing was thinking of ways to prepare himself against Lan Xi and Xie Cheng, Lan Xi had completely forgotten about Xie Jing's existence.

She was quite satisfied with her recent life after establishing a relationship of mutual conquest with Xie Cheng.

Although Xie Cheng was still very professional and kept work and personal matters separate during working hours, after get off work, he took Lan Xi to experience many things she had never tried before—

Xie Cheng took her for a boat ride on the largest freshwater lake in Rong City under the night sky; ate an authentic lakeside dinner on the lakeside bed; went to see the blooming lotus flowers in an ancient garden in Rong City; held hands as they strolled along the stone roads of an old street in Rong City; tried the traditional local desserts and snacks of Rong City; listened to the traditional song and dance performances of Rong City, the graceful and gentle movements of girls in ancient flowing sleeves accompanied by melodious sounds of silk and bamboo instruments that continued without cease...

It turned out that Earth had so many fun and delicious things!

Lan Xi had thought that her understanding of Earth food had already evolved comprehensively at the buffet, but she discovered that her knowledge of Earth was still shallow after following Xie Cheng.

Earth had too many wonderful things.

She remembered the evening breeze on the cruise ship, remembered the sunset, remembered the rich and delicate sweetness, and remembered Xie Cheng's gentle eyebrows, smiling lips, the warmth of holding hands, and more.

Lan Xi felt that everything was so wonderful, and Xie Cheng, who brought her all these new experiences, was even more pleasing no matter how she looked at him.

So this was how it felt to conquer an Earth person?

No wonder when Lan Xi was still on Mu Yi Star, she always heard her brothers and sisters boast about the sense of accomplishment from conquering a planet and its inhabitants. Their proud and happy looks were deeply etched in Lan Xi's mind, so much so that she always yearned to travel far alone after coming of age.

It was at this moment that she finally understood the joy of conquest.

She had chosen right in picking this Earth person, Xie Cheng, as her target.

Lan Xi had never conquered anyone before, so she didn't have an objective basis for judgment. But she was biased to think that Xie Cheng was simply the best and most correct conquest target.

After all, she was a princess!

How could a princess' eyes and choice be wrong!

However, when she thought of her identity as a princess, Lan Xi became troubled again.

Not only did the "Earthling Conquest Guide" say it, but all the online guides to conquering men also mentioned—

"The most important thing to maintain a relationship is honesty and sharing. Never conceal major issues, including family background, physical condition, financial status, etc. Concealing such problems will not only fail to gloss over them but also bury landmines for your future, causing unpredictable relationship breakdowns..."

When Lan Xi thought of this almost unanimous advice and earnest persuasion, she felt heavy-hearted.

How should she confess her identity as a princess of Mu Yi Star to Xie Cheng?

If she only wanted to conquer Xie Cheng for a while and then train him as a subordinate or future Earth agent, then there was no hurry to confess. Still, Lan Xi now felt that developing a healthy and orderly boyfriend-girlfriend relationship of mutual spiritual conquest with Xie Cheng was lovely. She was even a little addicted. On Earth, such relationships required confession as early as possible...

She had to find an opportunity and think of a way.

However, Lan Xi did not expect that plans could never catch up with changes. Before she could prepare the atmosphere to confess to Xie Cheng, a news article suddenly appeared out of thin air, pushing both Lan Xi and Xie Cheng to the cusp of public opinion.

It all started with an anonymous post in the water cooler section of the forum at the university Xie Cheng graduated from—

"Family members, who understands the feeling when an idol falls? Do you still remember Xie Cheng, the prestigious senior of the previous few batches? After graduation, he started his own company independently and even recruited many juniors to work there. I had always regarded him as an idol before, but unexpectedly, he turns out to be a person of such low character! He actually □□ the socially assisted employee specially recruited by the company."

This whistleblower spoke with certainty, claiming to be an insider but had no internal stake in the incident. Because he could not stand to see the sexual consent rights of vulnerable groups being infringed and some men using their power in the workplace to commit sex crimes, he took the huge risk to stand up for the victimized girl.

However, while paying lip service to protecting the victim, this whistleblower directly disclosed all of Lan Xi's information—

"The girl he □□ is called Lan Xi. She is from the mountainous area with deceased parents and has autism spectrum disorder. She has difficulty completing normal communication and socialization but has powerful computational and data analysis abilities. It was challenging for her to find a job and stand on her own feet, but because she is too beautiful, she suffered from Xie Cheng's harassment at work. In the end, Xie Cheng took advantage of her vulnerability as someone from a disadvantaged group who could not protect herself. Using his power as the boss in the workplace, he coerced her to submit through intimidation and temptation."

"As we all know, although people with autism can also get married, the possibility of them taking the initiative for love and marriage is minimal. Lan Xi has been unable to receive formal autism treatment and has severe deficits in social interaction and understanding. She simply cannot comprehend matters between men and women. A girl so fragile as her has no power to protect herself against a sturdy man like Xie Cheng. Therefore, Xie Cheng succeeded in forcing himself on her."

Under this post, there were initially many people who held skeptical attitudes: "Come on, have you seen Senior Xie Cheng's photos? He's so handsome, is it necessary? When he was in school, there were so many girls chasing him, and he never accepted any of them. If it was really like what you said, he would have come to whoever came along at that time without any legal risks at all!"

"That's right! Would Xie Cheng need to target autistic patients?"

...

However, the situation took a reversal after the whistleblower posted Lan Xi's photo—

"Damn! This girl looks like this? If she's not an AI-generated image but a real person, then I can only say, she indeed makes people want to commit a crime when looking at her..."

"I suddenly feel like this seems a bit true..."

"I think I'm starting to believe this leak a little..."

"A hot tip—just because a man is handsome doesn't mean he won't commit sex crimes. The whistleblower had so many details that match up, it doesn't feel like there's no rhyme or reason. I can't believe it's really a case of not knowing someone's true colors. To think Xie Cheng is actually a wolf in sheep's clothing like this."

...

What autism? What social disorders? Aren't those Earth people's problems? They have nothing to do with Lan Xi! Besides, what do they mean her strength is not on par with Xie Cheng's and that's why he was able to force himself onto her? Is Xie Cheng her equal?

That's simply nonsense! This is slander against the princess! It's an insult to the Mu Yi Star royal family!

Lan Xi was very angry at such distorted facts. She wanted to keep reading to see if there were any more preposterous remarks, but Xie Cheng took her phone away—

"Don't read anymore." Xie Cheng didn't look very happy, but his tone towards Lan Xi was gentle. "Cheng Xin's public relations department discovered this information first. It was initially circulating on the forum of my alma mater and quickly spread to other social media once promoters and marketing accounts got involved. Currently, because your photo is truly too beautiful and eye-catching, it has sparked a lot of discussion. In recent years, the 'Me Too' movement's voice has also been loud. This post has strong leading tendencies and has now been tagged with women's rights and vulnerable group rights topics for autistic patients, so it's very hot."

"Our PR team is already handling it. Especially for the platforms that spread your personal information and photos, we will request them to take it down on the grounds of infringement of privacy, and we will sue them for damages afterwards. The company will bear all legal costs, but we need you to sign an authorization letter to appoint us as your agent."

Xie Cheng said up to this point and looked at Lan Xi: "I'm telling you about this matter because your signature is needed to inform you, since if possible, I don't want you to see these things and have it affect your mood."

Xie Cheng looked very apologetic. "I'm very sorry to have you get involved in this kind of incident because of me. As an ordinary person, you should have never needed to interact with the news media and public opinion throughout your life. This kind of discussion and slander will definitely put great psychological pressure on you..."

Lan Xi felt this was a good opportunity to reveal her identity. What could bring two hearts closer together more than enduring hardships hand in hand?

"I'm not under any pressure at all." Lan Xi movedly grabbed Xie Cheng's hand, determined to seize the day. She looked deeply into Xie Cheng's eyes. "In fact, this works out just fine. I have a secret I want to tell you, one about my background and past."

Xie Cheng was stunned, but very soon, it was as if he already knew what Lan Xi wanted to say. "I don't care about your background, nor do I care about your past. Even if you made mistakes or didn't take good care of yourself in the past, I won't blame you. I would only feel that it would have been better if I had met you earlier, because that way I could have protected you better."

It was natural for Xie Cheng to associate those things. Lan Xi was from the rural areas and was adopted by some kind of unknown family that brainwashed her into having unhealthy views of love, and even guided her to use her body to earn money. But none of that was important.

"Your past is already in the past. I only care about the present you and the future you, so you don't need to explain your past to me, nor do you need to recall those unhappy things anymore."

That wouldn't do! Besides, what bad things had she encountered? As a princess, the most unfortunate thing Lan Xi had experienced in her life was the incorrect interstellar travel and forced landing on Earth. But now, she was quite satisfied with it too. If she hadn't crash landed on Earth, how could she have eaten so many delicious Earth foods and conquered Xie Cheng?

Lan Xi had originally wanted to create a more romantic and ambiguous atmosphere before revealing the truth, but who would've thought Xie Cheng was so insensitive to romance that he didn't even want to listen!

She was a little anxious now. Forgetting to set the stage and be tactful, she blatantly blurted out—

"I'm actually not human. I came from Mu Yi Star. I accidentally crash landed on Earth due to an error while interstellar traveling. And my identity, it might frighten you when I say it out loud, because it's truly too noble."

Xie Cheng froze as expected.

At this point, Lan Xi restrained her emotions a little and cleared her throat. She held Xie Cheng's hand and urged, "Don't be frightened by the next words. I'm not some nameless ordinary civilian from Mu Yi Star, but rather...a princess!"

"As the esteemed princess of Mu Yi Star, I often occupy the front page headlines of Mu Yi Star, so you don't need to worry that I'm not used to public attention, because days like this are my norm."

She patted Xie Cheng on the shoulder. "You don't need to feel pressured. Although my status is noble, I'm sure you can also tell that I'm an down-to-earth princess without airs. As a princess, my vision is naturally not to be questioned either. Since I have chosen you to be my boyfriend, don't look down on yourself or feel inferior because of my noble status, to the point of refusing to understand my past..."

Lan Xi thought she had explained considerately enough. However, not only was there no delight on Xie Cheng's face, his expression grew more and more grave.

"Lan Xi, have you felt uncomfortable anywhere lately?"

He directly cut her off and felt Lan Xi's forehead, then revealed a puzzled and even more worried look. "No fever."

Having said that, he comfortingly stroked Lan Xi's head. "Wait a moment, I'm going to make a call."

Lan Xi didn't object and nodded in agreement to show approval. See, just one mention that she was the princess and even small things like making a call had to be reported. It seemed her worries were unnecessary before—Xie Cheng was indeed the Earth person she had looked favorably upon with superb receptiveness.

However, what Lan Xi didn't know was...

Xie Cheng's expression was grave as he found a private spot far from Lan Xi and then called Professor Wu.

...

"So what you mean is, high-functioning autistic patients can indeed show symptoms of hallucinations or hearing voices? For cases like this, treatment must consist of taking antidepressants or antipsychotic medication under doctor's guidance and prescription after diagnosis, correct?"

On the other end of the phone, Professor Wu very patiently gave Xie Cheng a simple introduction of autism's symptoms of auditory and visual hallucinations. And he added another possibility: "If there was harm or stimulus suffered in childhood, as a self protection mechanism, the child could also use nonexistent hallucinations to avoid tragic experiences. It's more common for children who suffered induced assault to beautify the assaulter, and eventually under self-suggestion, believe that they are in a romantic relationship with the other party. There are also some special Stockholm syndrome patients."

Professor Wu's conclusion was concise and to the point: "Cases like this must be treated urgently."

This was naturally affirmative, but the hard and headache-inducing part was—

"Lan Xi is extremely resistant to going to the hospital."

Xie Cheng had suggested more than once that Lan Xi go to the hospital. Although he didn't mind Lan Xi's uniqueness, he still hoped Lan Xi could receive professional medical services. However, each time it was mentioned, Lan Xi's expression would drastically change, appearing extremely fearful of hospitals and stubbornly refusing to go no matter what.

"In that case, she likely has some psychological shadow or trauma related to hospitals or doctors in the past. Anyway, autistic patients often highly immerse themselves in their own worlds, and their comprehension abilities also differ from ordinary people's. But forcibly taking an autistic patient to the hospital, not only would they not understand, but it could also trigger a stress response. Autistic patients themselves tend to have volatile emotions to begin with, so my advice is, communicate well first."

"If a patient with autism spectrum disorder develops a fantasy, there is usually an underlying reason," Professor Wu explained over the phone. "Try to understand and gradually get to the heart of what's troubling them. Only then can you properly address the issue and convince them to accept treatment. That way, you'll make much faster progress."

Xie Cheng made a mental note of the advice before thanking Professor Wu and ending the call.

Could Lan Xi have imagined herself as an alien princess because of the inhumane treatment she endured growing up?

He could hardly fathom what setbacks and trials Lan Xi must have weathered to arrive where she was today. Her looks made her vulnerable to mistreatment; her condition invited unfair judgment.

Xie Cheng was well aware that those nasty online rumors were likely Xie Jing's doing. While Xie Cheng’s legal team had already sent cease and desist letters demanding the offensive posts be removed, such salacious gossip tended to spread rapidly, especially when Xie Jing had shamelessly included Lan Xi’s photo.

The internet harbored all manner of monsters, and naturally there was no shortage of insults and attacks directed at Xie Cheng. But what truly disturbed him were the lewd remarks about Lan Xi.

He would make sure everyone who had ever hurt Lan Xi paid the price.

Clenching his fist, Xie Cheng thought back to the sincere excitement in Lan Xi’s eyes earlier when she haughtily declared herself a princess. His heart ached even more.

He would never let Lan Xi get hurt again.

He would stay by her side, protect her, cherish her, and fulfill her deepest dreams by making her a princess - his princess. And Xie Cheng would be her knight.