Zhou Heng stood with his two assistants like three stone sentinels in the corridor of the Neurology Department at Provincial Third Hospital.
Li Jianmin and his wife huddled in the corner of a bench. The freshly signed disclaimer was clutched tightly in Li Jianmin’s hand, his knuckles pale from the force of his grip.
Now, when he looked at Chen Zhi, his gaze no longer saw a "wealthy young man" but a living demon who could have him locked up at any moment.
"Zhiyi, we’ll be heading back now," Li Xiuqin said, forcing a smile as she picked up her bag.
"If your grandfather wakes up, remember to call your aunt."
Li Zhiyi, standing beside Chen Zhi, gave a slight nod. "Sure, Aunt Xiuyun. Take care."
Once the relatives had slunk away into the elevator, the air in the corridor finally cleared.
Zhang Guifang let out a long breath, turned to Chen Zhi, and scolded in a low voice, "You little rascal, calling a lawyer over without giving any warning. You scared your grandmother half to death."
Chen Zhi leaned his cane aside and plopped down onto the bench.
"Mom, reasoning doesn’t work with these family matters. You have to use the law."
"People like that—you give them face, and they think they can push you around. You have to put a knife to their throat before they figure out who’s boss."
Li Zhiyi walked over to Chen Zhi, crouched down, and picked up the jacket that had fallen off him.
"Chen Zhi, thank you," she said softly, her voice still carrying a trace of lingering exhaustion.
Chen Zhi reached out and ruffled her hair. "Alright, don’t mention it. Lawyer Zhou and his team are still here. They’ll stay in the provincial capital for the next few days until Grandpa is discharged."
"If your uncle and the others try anything again, just call Lawyer Zhou directly."
Li Zhiyi bit her lip and rested her head on Chen Zhi’s knee.
...
Fifteen days later.
DeepSpaceTech headquarters, Beijing.
The once spacious CEO office was now piled high with blue folders and thick financial reports.
Dai Damai barged in with a file, full of energy.
"Boss, the SEC cleared the review!"
"Morgan Stanley and Hillhouse sent over the final subscription list. Oversubscribed forty times!"
Chen Zhi was sitting behind his desk, staring at code on his screen.
He looked up at Dai Damai with a calm expression.
"What’s the rush? Expected."
Dai Damai slapped the file onto the desk.
"Expected? Boss, this is the biggest IPO in Nasdaq’s history!"
"An initial valuation of $520 billion. If it doubles on opening day, we’ll be the most valuable tech company in the world!"
"Don’t you know the media’s gone crazy? Reuters, Bloomberg—even Time magazine wants an exclusive interview with you."
Chen Zhi closed his laptop, leaned back in his chair, and turned to look out the window.
In Beijing’s early summer, the sunlight was already starting to glare.
"Old Dai, listing is just a means, not the end."
"What about the computing resources I asked for from NVIDIA?"
Dai Damai froze for a moment, then quickly flipped to another report.
"For the next three years, priority chip supply goes to DeepSpaceTech, ahead of Microsoft and Google."
"The condition is that we open up MossOS for deep adaptation."
Chen Zhi let out a cold laugh. "Dream on. Adaptations are fine, but the underlying architecture is off-limits."
Just then, the office door swung open.
Pei Ningxue walked in, dressed in a sharp black pencil skirt suit.
She carried a tablet and wore an expression even colder than usual.
"Mr. Chen, the private jet is ready. Departure at 2 p.m., direct to New York."
She looked at Chen Zhi with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Have you arranged things with Li Zhiyi?"
Chen Zhi rubbed his nose. "She’s staying in Beijing to take care of Grandpa. He just got discharged, not fit for travel."
Pei Ningxue gave a soft snort and handed him the tablet.
"Here’s the Nasdaq bell-ringing schedule. Oh, and about Lin Wanwan..."
She paused, her tone becoming slightly teasing.
"Su Man said Lin Wanwan’s at an exclusive music festival in Boston—can’t be reached."
Chen Zhi’s hand faltered for half a second as he took the tablet.
"Got it."
Pei Ningxue didn’t miss his slight reaction. She leaned in closer.
"Tomorrow, the world’s cameras will be on you. If the media catches a shot of this hundred-billion-dollar CEO looking lost on the streets of New York, DeepSpace’s stock might drop by a whole limit."
Chen Zhi looked up at her and suddenly smiled.
"Pei Ningxue, are you jealous, or are you just worried about the company’s market cap?"
Pei Ningxue straightened up and smoothed her collar.
"I only care about my stock options. After all, I haven’t seen what a $500 billion firework looks like yet."
...
New York, Manhattan.
On the massive screens in Times Square, DeepSpaceTech’s logo occupied the most prominent spot.
A black-and-blue emblem reading "DeepSpaceTech" exuded an undeniable ambition.
Chen Zhi stood on the top floor of a hotel across from Times Square, holding a cup of black coffee that had already gone cold.
"Boss, four hours to go," Dai Damai said from behind, squirming in his suit.
He’d never worn such expensive clothes and couldn’t get comfortable.
"I checked the dark pool earlier—price has already hit $120, up 50% from the offering price."
Chen Zhi didn’t turn around. He just asked calmly, "Is it raining in Boston?"
Dai Damai blinked. "Huh? Let me check."
"No need," Chen Zhi said, setting the coffee cup down.
He pulled out his phone and opened the chat with the pinned contact he hadn’t dared to message in a long time.
Lin Wanwan’s avatar was still a picture of a cactus.
He typed a few words: [I’m about to ring the bell.]
Thought for a moment, then deleted them one by one.
Finally, he sent just one line: [You there?]
The message went out like a stone sinking into the sea—no response at all.
Chen Zhi put the phone back in his pocket and took a deep breath.
"Let’s go. To Nasdaq."
...
Nasdaq Trading Floor.
The room was packed with the world’s top investment banking elites and media reporters.
Chen Zhi walked in, surrounded by a team of bodyguards and executives.
A representative from Hillhouse smiled broadly and shook Chen Zhi’s hand firmly.
"Mr. Chen, congratulations. After today, you’ll be the idol of young people worldwide."
Chen Zhi smiled back. "Mr. Zhang, you flatter me. Let’s make money together."
Pei Ningxue stood on Chen Zhi’s left. Li Zhiyi wasn’t there, but her name appeared first on DeepSpaceTech’s legal advisory list.
"Ten, nine, eight..."
The entire room began the countdown.
Chen Zhi’s hand rested on the button that symbolized the pinnacle of wealth.
A flood of images flashed through his mind:
The helplessness of his first day after rebirth, lying in a cradle.
Nights of coding with Dai Damai until dawn at Peking University.
The despair of chasing Pei Ningxue through a rainstorm in Jiangcheng.
And Lin Wanwan, playing him that song, A Kind of Farewell.
"Three, two, one!"
"Bang!"
A shower of golden confetti rained down from the ceiling.
From the moment trading began, the curve on the screen climbed at a nearly vertical angle.
Five hundred and twenty billion.
Six hundred billion.
Seven hundred billion.
The shifting numbers had lost their financial meaning; they felt more like a ritual of power.
Chen Zhi stood on the stage, looking at the frenzied crowd below.
Suddenly, it all felt a bit meaningless.
Just then, his phone buzzed in his pocket.
He ducked away from the cameras and furtively took it out for a look.
It was a WeChat message.
From: Lin Wanwan.
Attached was a photo. In it, a girl in a simple white T-shirt, with short-cropped hair, stood before a massive screen on a street in Boston.
On that screen was a live broadcast of Chen Zhi ringing the opening bell.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
