Kind-hearted and Gentle

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Equal to the square, huh.

My god, could it be that all the gods and immortals brought me back to life just so I could open that Pandora’s box?

Should I get rid of the two sitting across from me?

Probably unnecessary, right?

They don’t even understand what “equal to the square” means.

But what if one day, by accident, they mention it to someone who does understand? The consequences would be...

As Yang Tang’s inner conflict raged, his imagination grew wilder and wilder—paranoia creeping in. Fortunately, at that moment, He Ming noticed his odd expression and couldn’t help but give him a nudge. “Hey, Mr. Yang, Mr. Yang!”

Yang Tang snapped back to reality, forcing a faint smile. “I’m fine, just got a bit lost in thought just now.” After a pause, he continued, “Gentlemen, what I’m trying to express is simple—back then, quite a few companies were competing with Tenglong and Giantsoft for the operating system market. But why, in the end, did only those two survive? If you look at code volume, some operating systems were even bigger than Tenglong’s, so why did they end up worthless?”

He Feng and his companion were left speechless.

Yang Tang seized the opportunity, pressing on. “So, when you compare similar products out there to my Power Saver, they’re just trash! According to Mr. Feng’s logic, if trash with the same amount of code as my Power Saver can sell for 150,000, then for my software, adding a zero to the price tag isn’t too much to ask, is it?”

He Feng and his companion were fuming inside. Not too much to ask? You just opened your mouth and raised our price offer fivefold—it’s daylight robbery!

In truth, if Yang Tang’s Power Saver hadn’t used five layers of irreversible encryption, making it impossible to crack in the short term, Chenxun wouldn’t have even sent He Ming and his team to negotiate. After all, there was no “Yang Tang” signature on those inconspicuous lines of code. They could just copy them, change the interface color, and be done—who would want to pay extra?

But now that He Ming and his team were here, they wouldn’t be intimidated by Yang Tang’s high price. In fact, He Ming didn’t even think it was that outrageous. He’d tested Power Saver himself—running the most power-hungry games, a full battery could last two and a half to three days. Software like that, if it became known throughout China’s companies, would be a bargain at under five million.

The problem was, Power Saver wasn’t famous yet, so Chenxun’s venture capital division would push the price as low as possible.

“Mr. Yang, as I said, I’m only authorized to sign for 300,000. If you insist on—”

“Mr. He, I understand. Then please send someone from your company who can authorize three million to negotiate with me.” As he spoke, Yang Tang tore off a note, wrote down his current address and contact details. “Within two weeks, I await your reply.”

As Yang Tang disappeared down the street, Feng Guangliang finally couldn’t hold back. “Lao He, this Yang Tang kid is way too arrogant. He just turned a corner with his words and raised the price from 1.5 million to three million. Isn’t he shameless?”

“Guangliang, calm down. This was just our first meeting—I never expected to close the deal in one go!” He Ming wasn’t angry. “Besides, don’t underestimate him just because he’s young. Yang Tang’s words are steady, not the least bit impulsive. That three million he mentioned at the end—that was aimed at me.”

“Uh…” Feng Guangliang was speechless. He knew that as deputy leader of the third group in the venture capital division, He Ming’s authority capped at three million. If it were the group leader, the limit would be ten million.

“All right, Guangliang, this is just a project we’re working on. Don’t overthink it. Go call Qingsong, let’s grab something to eat, then head back to the company branch.”

“Lao He, is that necessary? The company’s just two blocks away—if we run into someone we know, I think we’d better just go back first and meet up after work.”

“Fine.”

At the same time that He Ming, Feng Guangliang, and Lin Qingsong’s negotiation team took a cab back to Chenxun’s branch, two uninvited guests disguised as electricians entered the office building where the branch was located.

Evading the security patrols, they slipped into the power distribution room.

One of them, wearing an electrician’s cap and barely passing for a decent guy—take off the hat and he looked like a born criminal—said, “Weigang, just like we agreed: you find a place to install the new receiver, I’ll pick up the one I set up before along with the rest of the gear. Our handover will be complete after that.”

“No problem, 210!”

The two parted ways, and reunited a quarter of an hour later.

“Well? Did you get the stuff?” asked the one called Weigang.

With a mocking grin, 210 replied, “I just took the receiver down and scattered it in a few different places, and as for this memory card—once I hand it in, we’re all set!”

“Ha, that’s great.”

Fang Yuhua was pressing down on the accelerator of her Kirin SUV, the engine roaring.

Unable to stand it any longer, He Jianni in the passenger seat pleaded, “Yuhua, can you slow down? I’m getting dizzy!”

“You? Dizzy? You, of all people? Back when we went to Macau for the Grand Prix, who was it who pushed the car to 260 km/h?”

“Don’t joke around. I really am a bit dizzy.”

“Really?” Fang Yuhua quickly eased off the gas. “Tell me, besides dizziness, do you feel nauseous?”

“I think... a little.”

“Are you serious? Don’t tell me you’re... Ugh, gross—especially after what we did yesterday!”

“What do you mean, ‘what we did’? What am I?”

“You’ve been siding with that damn Yang Tang all day long—are you sure there’s nothing between you two?”

He Jianni finally understood. “You tomboy, are you crazy? Are you suggesting I’m pregnant? I curse you—you’ll get pregnant before I do!”

“Pah, pah, pah! I do not want to get pregnant!” Clearly, Fang Yuhua wasn’t mother material. “So there’s really nothing between you and Yang Tang?”

“You’re still asking?”

“Then why did you pull my sleeve at the club? As soon as I wanted to race him in round four, you tried to stop me!” Fang Yuhua was still hung up on it.

“You’re blaming me? I was trying to help you!” He Jianni was equally annoyed by Fang Yuhua’s attitude. “From the way Deputy Manager Chen tried to stop you, tell me—tomboy—isn’t the fourth round actually really dangerous?”

“So what if it is? I just wanted to scare that troublemaker Yang Tang!” Fang Yuhua said proudly.

“You wanted to scare him?” He Jianni rubbed her forehead. “You’re too naïve!”

“How so?” Fang Yuhua was puzzled.

“How to explain...” He Jianni hesitated, biting her lower lip as if steeling herself. “To be honest, Yang Tang can be pretty scary sometimes. Of course, most of the time, he’s just an eighteen-year-old guy. But...”

“But what?” Fang Yuhua pressed.

“But whenever it’s critical, like life-or-death moments, he shows a coldness far beyond his years. Take the time I was almost assaulted—leaving aside that he gave the attacker a mild concussion, it was the way he unhesitatingly smeared mud into the guy’s eyes that still makes my heart race.”

“What’s the big deal? When we were kids, if a fight got heated, we’d grab sand and throw it too!” Fang Yuhua dismissed it.

“That’s not the same—you said it yourself, we only did that out of desperation. But Yang Tang, at the time, had already covered most of his face with his collar. He did it even when the attacker was already powerless, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, without a hint of worry that he might blind the guy!”

Fang Yuhua was taken aback. She finally understood what He Jianni was getting at. “He really did that?”

“What do you think? I was right there, less than two meters away. I saw the whole thing, clear as day.”

“He didn’t take the chance to assault you himself?” Fang Yuhua teased.

He Jianni’s eyes widened. “He wouldn’t dare!”

“So, see? He’s still a good person, isn’t he? On this point, and since you keep speaking up for him, I’ll let him off this time.”

He Jianni didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Tomboy, what kind of logic is that?”

“That’s just how I am!” Fang Yuhua tossed her head flamboyantly, then slammed the accelerator down again.

“Hey, hey, hey—I’m really dizzy!”

To save money—and because he needed time alone to think—Yang Tang walked ten bus stops back to the Regal Global Hotel.

As soon as he entered the lobby, he ran into Fang Yuhua, who was frowning and striding toward the elevators. He Jianni was there too, clutching Fang Yuhua’s wrist as if afraid she’d lose her temper.

Already in a foul mood, Yang Tang didn’t bother being polite. “Get out of the way.” Without waiting for Fang Yuhua to move, he sidestepped her and kept going.

“What’s with you? I was just about to forgive you!”

Yang Tang ignored her, silently pressing the elevator button.

“Hey, I’m talking to you—didn’t you hear me?”

He shot her a glance. “You’re noisy.”

“Hmph!” Fang Yuhua puffed up with anger but said nothing.

He Jianni watched them anxiously, afraid things would erupt at any moment.

Ding.

The elevator arrived. Yang Tang walked in without a word, pressed the button for his floor and the close-door button, nearly catching He Jianni in the doors.

Fang Yuhua was immediately upset. “Hey, what’s your problem?”

Yang Tang paid her no mind, just offered an apologetic smile to He Jianni, then suddenly pressed a hand to his forehead and thumped the elevator wall hard. “Damn it, to forgive when possible—is it me that’s wrong?”