Chapter 251 - 250: Behind Pluto is Aurelia

Yvonne Lowell remained noncommittal. She downed the tea in front of her in one gulp.

"President Lowell, you brew a fine cup of tea, and you answered the question very well."

"Of course... Hey! How can you drink it like that?! That’s chugging! You’re wasting a perfectly good thing!"

Charles Lowell was so incensed that he protectively scooted the teapot closer to himself.

"Tsk, I was just thirsty, wasn’t I? Do you still want this tea set and these leaves or not?"

Yvonne Lowell placed her cup on the table and even nudged it toward him, signaling for a refill.

Charles Lowell felt wronged. Charles Lowell was angry. Charles Lowell was not happy.

But he still poured her another cup. "Now you’re threatening your old man, are you?"

"How could I? Aren’t we just discussing tea culture?"

Yvonne Lowell’s lips curled in a triumphant smile. She even closed the fingers of her right hand into a fist and lightly tapped the table three times.

"But if you were going to be strict about nationality, why not just build the headquarters in Aurelia from the start? At least the costs for visas, food, and lodging would have been much lower."

Yancy ’Math-Lover’ Lowell was a little confused.

"If you had bothered to look up the definition of a ’consortium,’ you wouldn’t be asking such a question. Not to mention, how old was Nola back then? The probability of success was practically zero!"

Wendy Sutton looked at her grown son, who only knew his mathematics, and poked him on the forehead in exasperation.

"Then why did you want to get into Loster, Yancy?" Yvonne Lowell smiled and countered with a question of her own.

’It wasn’t that I couldn’t have built the headquarters in Aurelia; I just didn’t want them to keep making exceptions for me.’

That was why even Pluto’s branch in Aurelia followed local customs and was called "Pluto Group" instead of "Pluto Consortium."

"That’s because Loster is the top university in the world, of course! There isn’t a single person dedicated to academia who doesn’t want to study there, okay?" Yancy Lowell replied without a second thought.

"Exactly. The same logic applies to why Pluto’s headquarters is located in Country M. I was after the advanced technology and resources here. I could scout for relevant talent faster and in greater numbers."

Pausing for a moment, Yvonne Lowell looked at the ’students’ before her and asked,

"Besides, at the time, not only did I have sufficient funds, resources, and connections, but I was also a top honors student at Loster. What do you think Country M would do?"

Here we go, here we go! Professor Lowell’s private tutoring session is now in session!

What to do when your kids are always curious? They probably haven’t had enough lessons! Quick, use Professor Lowell’s special cram course!

Dispels doubts and imparts knowledge. A peace of mind for adults and children alike!

Yancy: ’I don’t know if adults and children can have peace of mind, but I do know my head is spinning right now. As I thought, the only lovely thing in the world is math.’

"They’d offer you conveniences in every aspect, issue you a green card, and maybe even make an exception to grant you Country M citizenship directly. In short, they would use every means possible to keep you and have you develop your career in Country M," Caleb Lowell answered.

"Correct, but there’s more. In the early stages, once I had put up sufficient funds, they even sent people directly to my newly established Pluto as a form of ’poverty alleviation.’ As for the people you saw earlier, some of them had previously studied under the experts sent over by Country M."

Recalling the scene, Yvonne Lowell’s lips twisted into a scornful smirk.

Charles Lowell’s brow furrowed slightly. "What about the people from before? Did you just pull the rug out from under them? Did they really not notice?"

"Most of those people from before looked down on Pluto and bolted the moment their contracts were up. They chose to leave themselves; it had nothing to do with me. As for those who stayed, they were just moved to different positions. It’s not like I docked their pay."

Yvonne Lowell shrugged nonchalantly. "I’m the victim here, you know. Who could possibly use this to stir up trouble? Besides, now that Pluto is established, this place can’t live without Pluto, not the other way around. I’ll never be the one in a passive position."

’Learning from one person is learning, and learning from a group of people is also learning.’

’Besides, how can you call it ’stealing’ when it’s done by a scholar?’

’I was just doing it for the good of those ’so-called experts.’ I just hired them a bunch of ’gophers to pour tea and fetch water.’ What did I do wrong?’

’Who wouldn’t praise me as a considerate, god-tier boss? Who wouldn’t praise Pluto as a divine company with amazing benefits?’

’Who wouldn’t be shouting that they’d go crazy for Pluto, go wild for Pluto, and bang their head against the wall for Pluto?’

Yvonne Lowell continued, "Actually, there were no nationality restrictions at first. But we later discovered several people with ulterior motives, so I made that decision."

"That can’t be helped. Traitors are the kind of thing you find everywhere," Charles Lowell lamented.

Yvonne Lowell idly spun the cup on the table and said casually,

"That’s why, before those core personnel you saw earlier joined Pluto and underwent the background checks and monitoring you mentioned, they first had to pass another test. Because behind Pluto... is Aurelia."

Everyone snapped their heads up to look at her, their eyes filled with disbelief.

’It has to mean what we think it means, right?!’

’But why?’

’If Pluto had existed a few decades ago, Yvonne Lowell would have been sent down to the countryside!!’

Yvonne Lowell: ’...You guys are really my loving family, aren’t you! I’m begging you, can’t you just think something good about me for once?!’

Charles Lowell’s hand tightened around the teapot, but his tone remained calm as he said,

"What were the conditions for this exchange? What did they include?"

’Money? Power? Or even your life?’

"Couldn’t it just be that your daughter—me—is naturally gorgeous and so universally beloved that they were clamoring to work with me?" Yvonne Lowell asked, raising an eyebrow playfully.

"Cut the crap! More like people want to strangle you on sight!"

’That brat. The little bit of sympathy I just started to feel for her has been completely chased away by my anger!’

"President Lowell, you’re becoming less and less adorable," Yvonne Lowell pouted.

"You have to understand, as soon as any enterprise gets the ’international’ label attached to its name, its right to speak grows, and conducting business becomes much more convenient. So, after a little back and forth, we became partners with Aurelia."

’In reality, Pluto has already become a state-owned enterprise disguised as an international consortium.’

’Sometimes, when Country M acts unscrupulously, doesn’t Pluto come in handy?’

’Transporting people, delivering goods, things like that... it’s all a piece of cake.’

"Is it dangerous?" Wendy Sutton asked, worried.

Yvonne Lowell smiled nonchalantly. "Mom, no one has the time to watch me day in and day out. Besides, no one knows that the three of us have Aurelian citizenship.

No matter how thoroughly they investigate, all they’ll find is that I only returned to Kingsland last year to reunite with my family, let alone any connections to other people."

’I even got the citizenship when I returned to Aurelia to receive my medal. I wheedled it out of those two unscrupulous bosses as a bonus.’

However, the official public records for the three of them show their nationality as Country X.

’I only dared to accept this condition because I was certain I had the ability to retreat unscathed, as well as the power to protect my family and friends.’

’Dog-eat-dog, counter-espionage... those are all just my leftovers from years ago. What the hell do I have to be afraid of?’