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墨書 Inktalez
At six in the morning, Lin Xiaofan was jolted awake by a series of notification sounds from his phone. He fumbled for it, squinting at the glaring screen filled with red unread alerts—notifications of investment withdrawals from partners, legal letters, and contract termination agreements... The last message was from his landlord: "Move out today or I will call the police."
"Damn it!" Lin Xiaofan shot up, a wave of hangover-induced headache crashing over him. Last night, to cope with Zhao Tianming's dinner invitation, he had downed half a bottle of Maotai but hadn’t even let the other party touch the system. He stumbled into the bathroom, where he caught sight of himself in the mirror—bloodshot eyes and stubble on his chin that resembled wild weeds.
Cold water splashed on his face as fragmented memories from the previous night began to piece together—how Zhao Tianming's hands adorned with jade rings had patted his shoulder both intentionally and unintentionally, how Zhang Hao had hinted at knowing about the "system," and that mysterious USB drive that had vanished only to reappear suddenly...
His phone buzzed again. Lin Xiaofan hastily wiped his face with a towel; the caller ID read "Mother."
"Xiaofan!" His mother's voice trembled with tears. "There are so many people at home saying they are reporters, asking if your charity work is a scam..."
A sharp pain twisted in Lin Xiaofan's stomach. He forced himself to comfort his mother for a moment before hanging up and immediately opening social media. The topic CharityScam was trending, with an account claiming to be a "former employee" accusing him of exploiting children in mountainous regions for profit. The comments section was filled with vicious curses.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Peering through the peephole, Lin Xiaofan saw Zhang Hao's grinning face. His cousin had changed into a new outfit today, expensive trendy sneakers impatiently kicking at the doorframe, while a gold chain around his neck glimmered in the morning light.
"Bro, I know you're home!" Zhang Hao called out in a drawn-out tone. "Don't hide; I've got good news for you!"
Lin Xiaofan took a deep breath and opened the door.
Zhang Hao swaggered in as if it were his own home, plopping down on the sofa and casually grabbing half a pack of cigarettes from the coffee table. "Not doing too bad, huh cousin? Smoking Zhonghua now."
"Spit it out," Lin Xiaofan replied coldly.
Zhang Hao leisurely lit a cigarette and exhaled a perfect smoke ring. "I was helping President Zhao organize some materials yesterday and accidentally saw your phone backup..." He squinted playfully. "That 'Hundredfold Return System'—pretty interesting, huh?"
Lin Xiaofan's blood ran cold. He had indeed backed up data on the company computer last week after getting drunk, but he had set a password...
"How much do you want?" he asked directly.
Zhang Hao grinned widely, revealing two gold teeth. "Come on, we're brothers; let's split it fifty-fifty."
"Dream on!"
"That works too." Zhang Hao shrugged and pulled out his phone, waving it around. "I can send out a group message right now telling everyone you have a secret system..."
Lin Xiaofan lunged to grab the phone, and they wrestled with each other. The coffee table toppled over, glass shattering everywhere. Ultimately, Zhang Hao flipped Lin Xiaofan against the wall; his smile vanished. "Cousin, don’t push your luck. President Zhao is offering two million for this secret; I came to you first out of family loyalty."
"Get out." Lin Xiaofan squeezed out those three words through clenched teeth.
Zhang Hao released him and adjusted his collar. "I'll give you three days to think about it." As he reached the door, he turned back to add, "By the way, I've already sent someone to 'take care' of your mom. She's not well; don’t let her get too upset..."
After the door closed behind him, Lin Xiaofan slumped onto the floor. His fingers brushed against a shard of glass, blood immediately oozing out. The pain brought him back to reality somewhat. He opened his computer to check the backup files and indeed found traces of remote intrusion—the login IP showed it was from Aurora Media.
"Bastard..." he slammed his fist down onto the floor in frustration.
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