Chen Zhi is the biggest traitor in the coding world

The meeting ran until 11:30 PM.

Dai Damai, holding his laptop, was buzzing with unnatural excitement.

"CEO Chen, if we really pull off this plugin marketplace, the developer ecosystem won't be stuck in the old app store model anymore."

"Users won’t need to download a bunch of apps. Just say one sentence to Moss, and Moss calls the skill itself."

"Once this takes shape, no matter how many models Google open-sources, it won’t matter."

Chen Zhi leaned back in his chair, legs propped on a small stool, twirling a pen in his hand.

"So don't sleep tonight."

Dai Damai: "?"

Chen Zhi snapped a photo of the whiteboard framework and sent it to the company’s core group chat.

"MossOS Developer Platform: first draft of technical documentation within three days."

"Skill plugin SDK: internal testing within seven days."

"Developer revenue-sharing rules: President Pei is in charge."

"Legal compliance: Zhiyi, take a look."

Li Zhiyi, sitting nearby, lowered her head to jot down the key points.

Pei Ningxue, arms crossed, spoke in a calm tone.

"This is what you call exploiting employees."

Chen Zhi pointed at Dai Damai.

"Does he look exploited to you?"

The moment Dai Damai thought about the value of his stock options now, his motivation skyrocketed.

"I’m happy to be exploited."

Pei Ningxue: "..."

Li Zhiyi let out a quiet laugh.

Chen Zhi was satisfied.

He was about to hand out more tasks when his phone buzzed with a message notification.

It was the "404 Father-Son" group chat.

Guo Yang had fired off several messages.

"Chen Zhi! CEO Chen! Godfather Chen! Are you still alive?!"

"If you don't come back to campus soon, your advisor is really going to haul you out of Huanmao Center!"

"Holy crap, your advisor just called you out in the group chat—your leave of absence ended ages ago. You have to be there tomorrow for the 8 AM class!"

"Godfather! 8 AM! 8 AM! Is that something a human can handle?!"

Li Zicong followed up with a text.

"Don’t bother fighting it. No matter how rich you are, you still need credits to graduate."

Chen Zhi silently switched his phone to silent mode.

Pei Ningxue, sitting next to him, glanced over slowly.

"Who is it?"

"Scam message."

"A scam message calls you godfather?"

"Scammers have a very broad job scope these days."

Pei Ningxue reached out her hand.

"Give it here."

Chen Zhi immediately shoved the phone against his chest.

"This is my personal privacy."

Pei Ningxue didn’t waste words—she just reached over and grabbed it.

Chen Zhi’s leg was still injured, and his body hadn’t fully recovered. After a couple of weak struggles, he gave up.

Pei Ningxue took the phone, scanned the 404 group chat logs for a few seconds.

"8 AM tomorrow, Trends in AI Industry."

Chen Zhi cleared his throat.

"President Pei, right now the company is in the middle of an international siege. As the founder, I’m swamped with work, my health isn’t great—this whole school thing can slide for a bit."

Pei Ningxue ignored him and directly opened the chat with his advisor.

Chen Zhi’s expression changed.

"What are you doing?"

Pei Ningxue’s fingers flew across the screen.

"Hello Professor, this is Chen Zhi. I’ll be attending class on time tomorrow."

Sent successfully.

Chen Zhi stared at that line of text, completely crushed.

"Pei Ningxue, whose side are you on here?"

"Because I’m also a Peking University alum."

Pei Ningxue tossed the phone back to him.

"And I hate men who skip class."

Chen Zhi was indignant.

"I can beat Silicon Valley in business, but I can’t sneak in a little break from academics?"

Li Zhiyi softly chimed in.

"You’ve been on leave for four months. You really should show your face."

Chen Zhi turned to look at her.

"Zhiyi, you’ve changed."

Li Zhiyi closed her meeting notes.

"I just think you really can afford to put work aside for a bit."

Dai Damai was stifling a laugh beside them.

Chen Zhi looked at him.

"What are you laughing at? If those new features aren’t done in three days, you’ll be handing out flyers at Peking University’s East Gate."

Dai Damai immediately straightened up.

"Roger that, CEO Chen."

Pei Ningxue stood up and grabbed her bag.

"Meeting adjourned. The CEO has an 8 AM class tomorrow—don’t keep him from resting."

The group of executives in the room froze for a second, then all lowered their heads in unison.

Wanting to laugh but not daring to.

Chen Zhi got up with his crutch.

"Go ahead and laugh. Let’s see who doesn’t want their year-end bonus."

No one dared to laugh out loud.

But Dai Damai’s shoulders were shaking the most visibly.

Chen Zhi pointed at him.

"You’re coming with me to Peking University tomorrow."

Dai Damai was dumbfounded.

"Why?"

"To show you what real business warfare looks like."

...

The next morning, 7:30 AM.

Chen Zhi, wearing a mask and scarf, stepped out of the car.

Old Zhao parked outside Peking University’s East Gate and deliberately turned back to remind him:

"CEO Chen, Ms. Pei asked me to tell you: don’t skip class. She’ll check."

Chen Zhi was silent for a moment.

"Old Zhao, whose side are you on now anyway?"

Old Zhao smiled.

"I’m on Ms. Pei’s payroll."

Chen Zhi: "..."

Fine. Very realistic.

The snow at Peking University hadn’t been fully cleared yet.

Students with books in their arms were rushing toward the classroom buildings. The resentment of an 8 AM class was palpable from ten yards away.

Chen Zhi had planned to slip onto campus quietly.

His mask was tight, his scarf covered half his face—he did his best to stay low-key.

But the moment he stepped through the East Gate, a girl holding up a Moss phone to take a picture of the snow suddenly stopped.

"Wait... is that Chen Zhi?"

The guy next to him turned his head.

"Who?"

"Chen Zhi from Deep Space Tech!"

"Holy crap?"

Three seconds later.

Students nearby started turning around.

"It really is him!"

"CEO Chen!"

"Godfather!"

"Godfather, look here! I snagged a first-batch Moss phone!"

"CEO Chen, can you sign my phone case?"

Chen Zhi’s scalp tingled. He sped up his pace.

But his leg hadn’t healed—fast was relative.

The crowd quickly closed in around him.

People took pictures, others filmed, and some rushed over holding phone boxes.

"CEO Chen, I’m from the School of Information Science. Can I apply for an internship at Deep Space next year?"

"CEO Chen, when will your MossOS developer platform open?"

"CEO Chen, I heard you’re worth tens of billions. Is that true?"

Chen Zhi shuffled forward, waving his hand.

"Fake, all rumors."

"Then how much are you worth now?"

"In debt."

"How much debt?"

"Credit debt."

The students burst into laughter.

Just as Chen Zhi was about to be completely surrounded, a familiar loud voice broke through the crowd from beyond.

"Move aside! Move aside! Family’s here!"

Guo Yang shoved his way in, sweating profusely, and his first words were:

"My son! You’re finally back!"

Chen Zhi almost swung his crutch at him.

"Guo Yang, if you call me that one more time, I’ll have Moss cancel every food delivery membership you have."

Guo Yang immediately corrected himself.

"Godfather!"

Li Zicong slowly walked over, coffee in hand.

"Watch your generational hierarchy. He’s the internet’s godfather now. Calling him your son is basically stealing from the public."

Zhang Tianyang stood at the back of the crowd, only risking a quiet comment:

"Chen Zhi, long time no see."

Chen Zhi looked at the three of them, and the awkwardness of being stared at eased considerably.

He jabbed his crutch in Guo Yang’s direction.

"Fatty, escort me."

Guo Yang puffed out his chest.

"You got it!"

Then he turned to the crowd of students and shouted:

"Fellow countrymen, the godfather just got his cast off today. No autographs, no photos, no funding questions!"

Li Zicong added,

"If you want to apply for a job, go to the official website and submit your resume. Don't block the entrance, or the security guards might remember your face."

Zhang Tianyang weakly raised his phone.

"Um... I'm going to be late for class."

Chen Zhi suddenly remembered he had an 8 AM class.

"Let's go!"

The four of them rushed toward the teaching building. Chen Zhi walked in the middle, Guo Yang cleared a path ahead, Li Zicong blocked people on the side, and Zhang Tianyang followed behind carrying the books.

...

The classroom was already packed with people.

When Chen Zhi walked in, there were two minutes left before class. He originally wanted to sit in the back corner, but as soon as he stepped inside, dozens of eyes from the entire class turned to him in unison.

A male student in the front row stood up immediately.

"CEO Chen, you can take my seat."

Chen Zhi waved his hand.

"No need, I'm a student today."

The four of them sat in the last row.

The teacher walked in with a laptop and connected it to the projector. The title on the first slide of the PPT soon appeared on the big screen:

"Artificial Intelligence Industry Trends and Commercialization Pathways"

The accompanying image was a screenshot of the Deep Space Technology press conference.

Chen Zhi: "..."

At the podium, the teacher began taking attendance. When he called "Chen Zhi," the classroom fell noticeably silent.

Chen Zhi raised his hand.

"Present."

The teacher looked up and smiled.

"Student Chen Zhi, welcome back to class."

The entire class applauded.

Chen Zhi buried his face deeper into his scarf.

This is kind of awkward, isn't it?

The teacher continued the lecture.

"Today, we're talking about AI industrialization. Over the past six months, Deep Space Technology's Moss has evolved from a single-purpose tool into a system-level gateway."

"Its impact on human-computer interaction may very well surpass that of voice assistants over the past decade."

The slide turned.

A screenshot of Moss's phone demo appeared.

Another slide turned.

A screenshot of Moss's video generation model appeared.

The students in the audience once again turned to look at Chen Zhi.

Chen Zhi sat in the back row, pretending to be invisible.

Guo Yang raised his hand.

"Professor, the case study subject is right here. How about letting him say a few words?"

Li Zicong chimed in from the side.

"I think that's a good idea. CEO Chen has poached so many top talents from our school, it's only fair the school squeezes some value back."

The teacher smiled and nodded.

"Student Chen Zhi, would you like to share your thoughts on the AI industry?"

The class fell silent, looking at Chen Zhi with anticipation.

Chen Zhi stood up, holding onto the desk.

He originally planned to say something vague just to sit back down quickly.

But the entire class was watching him.

Chen Zhi thought for a moment and then spoke.

"Personally, I think AI isn't about replacing people."

As soon as Chen Zhi started speaking, many students began taking notes—after all, this was a speech from someone who had reached a net worth of hundreds of billions in under a year.

Chen Zhi paused.

"AI's greatest value is helping people work fewer worthless jobs."

The classroom was silent for half a second.

Then it exploded.

"Hahaha!"

"Professor, now that's the real industry trend!"

Guo Yang was in full agreement.

Godfather has voiced the heartfelt sentiments of every office worker!

The teacher laughed too, raising his hand to calm everyone down.

"Go on, student Chen Zhi."

Chen Zhi decided to drop the pretense.

"If we make the tech too abstract, people won't get it. Simply put, if AI can only write poems and chat, it's a toy."

"But if it can help you fill out forms, process reimbursements, make PPTs, search for info, book tickets, edit videos, write code, and handle emails—then it's a tool."

"The next step isn't about making users learn how to use AI. It's about making AI learn how to work for users."

Someone raised their hand.

"CEO Chen, what about developers? If everyone uses Moss to complete tasks, will traditional apps die?"

Chen Zhi looked at the student.

"Traditional apps won't die immediately, but the entry point will change."

"In the past, users opened an app to find a function. In the future, users will state their needs, and Moss will go find the capability."

"So developers will have to change too—from building a complete app to offering some kind of specialized capability to Moss."

The teacher picked up the thread.

"Is this what people are calling MossOS?"

Chen Zhi froze.

Wow.

News travels fast.

He didn't confirm it directly, just smiled.

"Professor, that question touches on trade secrets."

The whole class laughed again.

The teacher nodded.

"Then let me rephrase. AI is creating anxiety about jobs. What do you think?"

As soon as this question came up, the atmosphere in the classroom shifted noticeably.

Many students pulled out their phones to record, waiting for Chen Zhi's answer.

Chen Zhi stood in the last row, hand resting on the edge of the table.

"Anxiety is inevitable."

"But running away won't help."

"Every time tools upgrade, some jobs get eliminated and some jobs get created. The key is which side you're on."

"If you treat AI as an enemy, it will take your job."

"If you treat AI as a tool, you can take someone else's job."

A few people in the classroom drew sharp breaths.

...

After class, before Chen Zhi could escape, the faculty advisor cornered him at the classroom door.

"Chen Zhi, come to my office for a bit."

Guo Yang immediately took a step back.

"Godfather, take care."

Li Zicong patted him on the shoulder.

"No matter how successful you are in business, you can't escape a chat with your advisor."

Zhang Tianyang whispered a reminder.

"Should I take your bag back to the dorm?"

Chen Zhi handed him the books.

"If I'm not back in half an hour, don't forget to call the police."

The advisor's office was piled high with materials—leave forms, make-up class records, student files, scholarship announcements—all mixed together.

After Chen Zhi sat down, the advisor first poured him a glass of water.

"How's your leg?"

"Pretty much recovered."

"Busy as you are with the company, you still need to take care of yourself."

Chen Zhi nodded.

That actually sounds pretty warm.

The advisor then pulled out a form.

"Your company has grown big, and the school is happy for you. But you're still a Peking University student. You've been on leave for four months, and you've missed quite a bit of coursework."

Chen Zhi's heart sank.

The advisor slid the form over.

"These are the make-up class arrangements."

Chen Zhi looked down.

Three pages thick.

8 AM classes, evening classes, online assignments, course papers, final exams.

Chen Zhi felt his vision blur for a moment.

"Professor, isn't this intensity... a bit inhumane?"

The advisor smiled warmly.

"You dared to take on Google and Microsoft. A few make-up classes shouldn't be that hard, right?"

Chen Zhi sighed and said, "Professor, you wouldn't want me to apply to Tsinghua for grad school, would you?"

The advisor's face darkened. This kid is getting more out of line by the day.

Just then, a soft click came from the office door.

Chen Zhi turned his head.

Pei Ningxue stood outside the door, her phone still held up.

Today she was dressed low-key, wearing a long down jacket.

Chen Zhi gritted his teeth.

"Did you just take a picture of me?"

"To keep as a souvenir."

Pei Ningxue walked in and greeted the advisor.

The advisor clearly knew her.

"Ningxue, you're back on campus too?"

"Yeah, just taking care of some things."

The advisor glanced at Chen Zhi, then at Pei Ningxue, as if reminded of the incident in the academic affairs office four months ago. His tone turned complicated.

"Both of you, try not to stir up any more trouble. The school can't handle a second round."

Chen Zhi coughed awkwardly.

Pei Ningxue, on the other hand, remained perfectly calm.

"Professor, don't worry. I'll make sure he keeps up with the make-up classes."

Chen Zhi was shocked.

"You're going to supervise me?"

Pei Ningxue picked up the make-up class schedule and scanned it.

"Monday 8 AM, Wednesday evening class, Friday course paper."

She folded the watch and slipped it into Chen Zhi's coat pocket.

"Good. Saves you from going out and flirting with other girls."

Chen Zhi lowered his voice in reminder.

"Pei, you're the CFO now, not an adjunct from the Dean's Office."

"I manage the company's assets."

Pei Ningxue gave him a look.

"Your failing grade damages Peking University's outstanding alumni image, indirectly depleting Deep Space Tech's brand value."

The counselor nearly laughed out loud beside them.

"Then it's settled. Chen Zhi, there's a college symposium this afternoon. You should join."

Chen Zhi jerked his head up.

"Another one?"

"The theme is AI and Youth Employment."

The counselor handed him another notice.

"We originally invited an external expert, but since you're back today, the department thinks you're more suitable."

Chen Zhi: "..."

He finally understood.

The 8 a.m. class was just the appetizer.

What the school really wanted to exploit was him—a living case study.

Pei Ningxue took the notice and scanned it.

"Two o'clock, Yingjie Exchange Center."

Chen Zhi stood up with his crutch.

"What if I don't go?"

Before the counselor could respond, Pei Ningxue answered for him.

"He'll go."

Chen Zhi turned to look at her.

Pei Ningxue pressed the notice against his chest.

"Chen, give a good talk this afternoon."

Chen Zhi was silent for two seconds.

"Pei Ningxue, you weren't like this before."

"I wasn't a CFO before."

She turned and walked out, then stopped at the door.

At the other end of the hallway, Guo Yang was already rushing over with his phone raised.

"Godfather! Big trouble!"

"The symposium topic has been changed to—"

Guo Yang shoved his phone in front of Chen Zhi.

On the screen, a hot post floated at the top of Peking University's campus forum:

【Billion-Dollar CEO On-Site Q&A: Will Moss Make Us Graduates Jobless?】

Below the post were several highly upvoted replies:

【Chen Zhi's AI replaced us coders—he's the ultimate code traitor!】

【Propose an on-site cross-examination of Chen Zhi himself.】