"Damn it."
Chen Zhi couldn't hold back and swore aloud.
"Qiandu is always late to the party whenever they launch a new project, and now they are targeting me."
Dai Damai stood by the bed hugging his laptop, shrinking his neck back, not daring to say a word.
"Disgusting," Chen Zhi sneered.
"Mr. Chen, what do we do now?"
"Should we have the legal department send a cease and desist letter? Or we could spend money on a PR firm and buy trending topics to counter them?"
"Send my ass," Chen Zhi waved his hand, rejecting it outright. "Buying trending topics is even more unnecessary. We can't compete with them in burning money for traffic. They just want to bleed us dry on their home turf."
Dai Damai grew anxious.
"So we just watch? Moss's new user data has already taken a nosedive these past few days."
"Who said anything about just watching?" Chen Zhi stroked his chin. "How is the progress on the system development?"
Dai Damai quickly pulled up an internal progress chart.
"The lightweight model deployed on the edge is running smoothly. The hardware team over at Meizu has been working hard, and the underlying API interfaces are completely integrated with Moss. The smoothness of the engineering prototype has exceeded our expectations; Moss has fully taken over the phone's underlying system logic."
"That's about right." Chen Zhi nodded.
He thought for a moment and turned to look at Dai Damai.
"Shouldn't we move the launch event forward?"
Dai Damai froze.
"Move it forward? Wasn't it originally scheduled for a month from now? The software testing isn't even finished yet."
"We can't wait a month." Chen Zhi spoke faster. "If we don't fight back now, a huge chunk of the market we've built up will be snatched away."
Chen Zhi looked at Dai Damai and issued an order.
"Tell J. Wong immediately: we are holding the launch event in half a month."
"Half a month?!" Dai Damai's gaze fell on Chen Zhi's suspended left leg and heavily bandaged upper body. "Brother Zhi, that's too rushed! And look at you right now... how are you going to go on stage and present the slides?"
"Even if I have to sit in a wheelchair, I'm getting up there to finish this show."
Chen Zhi gritted his teeth and directed Dai Damai.
"Get your phone, call J. Wong directly, and put it on speaker."
Dai Damai didn't dare delay; he took out his phone and dialed J. Wong's number.
After ringing for a dozen seconds, the call connected.
The noisy sound of running machinery came from the other end, and J. Wong's voice revealed deep exhaustion.
"Mr. Dai? Spit it out quickly, I'm keeping an eye on the production line right now."
"Lao Huang, it's me," Chen Zhi shouted at the phone.
The other end was quiet for a moment before J. Wong's voice came through.
"Mr. Chen? Aren't you in Beijing? I heard you were hospitalized."
"Just a minor accident, it's nothing." Chen Zhi's tone was relaxed. "Lao Huang, can the hardware progress be sped up? I plan to move the launch event forward to half a month from now."
"Are you crazy?"
"Half a month? Do you think we are assembling toys? The shell molds have just been finalized, and now you want me to produce actual stock for a launch event in half a month?"
"We don't need a lot of stock. Just two hundred engineering prototypes for the media to review is enough." Chen Zhi completely ignored J. Wong's protests. "We've got the software side sorted. Lao Huang, Qiandu has already started making their move against us. We don't have time to do things by the book."
J. Wong was silent for a long time on the other end.
"Half a month." J. Wong blew a smoke ring, his voice hoarse. "I've been in this industry for so many years and I've never fought such a hasty battle. I can rush out two hundred engineering prototypes for you, but if the launch event flops, I'm not taking the blame."
"Don't worry, leave the launch event to me."
The call ended.
The ward door was pushed open at the same time.
Pei Ningxue walked in holding a stack of payment receipts. Hearing Chen Zhi's last sentence, she paused, her eyes falling on his plastered left leg.
"Going on stage in a wheelchair to host a launch event?" Pei Ningxue walked to the bed and slapped the receipts on the nightstand. "Mr. Chen is truly strong-willed despite being physically disabled. The doctor said your leg needs at least three months of bed rest. If you go to a launch event in half a month, are you planning to hold a memorial service right there on stage?"
Seeing the situation, Dai Damai immediately closed his laptop and tucked it under his arm.
"Um... Brother Zhi, President Pei, I'll head back to the company to coordinate with the hardware department first. There's still a bunch of things to do over there, I'll take my leave!"
After saying that, Dai Damai didn't even give Chen Zhi a chance to make him stay, and scurried out of the ward in a flash.
The ward fell quiet again.
Pei Ningxue pulled up a chair and sat down, arms crossed over her chest, looking at Chen Zhi coldly.
"Did Qiandu make their move?" she asked.
Although she had made a fuss in the morning about withdrawing her shares and going abroad, she was, after all, the CFO of Deep Space Technology, extremely sensitive to the slightest rustle in the industry. With Dai Damai rushing in so anxiously just now, coupled with the content of Chen Zhi's phone call, she figured it all out with just a little thought.
"Yeah." Chen Zhi didn't hide it.
"So you want to move the launch event forward?"
"Smart." Chen Zhi gave a thumbs-up with his right hand, which didn't have an IV drip. "President Pei is brilliant and mighty."
"Shut up." Pei Ningxue glared at him, but the tips of her ears grew a little warm. "Your physical condition absolutely doesn't allow for high-intensity work. The launch event can be delayed, or you can have Dai Damai go up and present."
"No." Chen Zhi shook his head. "I have to do this launch event personally. This is the crucial juncture where Moss transforms from a software tool into an ecological brain."
"Besides, my identity itself is a talking point: a nineteen-year-old billionaire."
He looked at Pei Ningxue, his tone taking on a hint of a rogue.
"Furthermore, I promised you that I'd get the company to a hundred billion dollar valuation within a year. If I don't give it my all, what if my wife runs away?"
Pei Ningxue turned her face away, not wanting to look at his punchable expression.
"Even if you die on that stage, I won't shed a single tear."
"That's a real pity." Chen Zhi sighed intentionally. "I even saved a trump card for the launch event, planning to confess my love to the CFO of our Deep Space Technology in front of the entire internet."
Pei Ningxue looked at him with a smile. "I don't mind, but do you dare, Mr. Chen?"
Chen Zhi stopped joking around. He rolled over, but ended up pulling his wound and started grimacing in pain again.
Watching him break into a cold sweat from the pain, Pei Ningxue couldn't help but reach out and tuck the corners of his blanket in.
"Just lie down properly and don't cause any more trouble for me."
Pei Ningxue turned and walked out of the ward.
Chen Zhi looked at the closed door and stroked his chin with his right hand.
Half a month.
Chen Zhi picked up the phone by his pillow, scrolled through his contacts, and dialed a number.
The phone rang three times before it was answered.
"Hello, Mr. Zhang." Chen Zhi smiled at the other end of the phone. "NoteDance's traffic monetization has hit a bottleneck recently, hasn't it? I have a new gadget here. Do you want to do something huge together?"
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
