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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 to grab it, and the glaring screen was filled with red unread alerts—notifications of withdrawal from partners, lawyer letters, and termination agreements... The last message was from his landlord: "Move out today, or I will call the police."
"Damn it!" Lin Xiaofan sat up abruptly, 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 Moutai but hadn’t let the other party touch the system at all. He stumbled into the bathroom, and the reflection in the mirror revealed bloodshot eyes and stubble on his chin that resembled overgrown weeds.
Cold water splashed on his face, and fragments of last night’s memories began to piece together—how Zhao Tianming’s hands, adorned with jade rings, had intentionally or unintentionally patted his shoulder, 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’re 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 few moments before hanging up and immediately opening social media. The topic CharityScam had surged to trending status, with an account claiming to be a "former employee" exposing him for "exploiting children in mountainous areas 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 kicked at the doorframe, and the gold chain around his neck sparkled in the morning light.
"Brother, I know you’re home!" Zhang Hao called out in a drawn-out tone. "Stop hiding; I have good news for you!"
Lin Xiaofan took a deep breath and opened the door.
Zhang Hao swaggered in as if he were returning home, plopping down on the sofa and casually grabbing half a pack of cigarettes from the coffee table. "Not doing too badly, huh cousin? Smoking Zhonghua now."
"Spit it out," Lin Xiaofan replied coldly.
Zhang Hao leisurely lit a cigarette and blew out a perfect smoke ring. "I was helping President Zhao organize some documents 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 after getting drunk last week, 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’s fine too." Zhang Hao shrugged and pulled out his phone, shaking it teasingly. "I’ll just send 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. In the end, Zhang Hao flipped Lin Xiaofan against the wall, his smile vanishing. "Cousin, don’t push your luck. President Zhao is offering two million for this secret; I’m only coming to you first out of family loyalty."
"Get out." Lin Xiaofan squeezed out those three words through clenched teeth.
Zhang Hao released him and straightened 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 'look after' your mom; she’s not well—don’t let her get too upset..."
After the door closed behind him, Lin Xiaofan slumped to the floor. His fingers brushed against a shard of glass, and blood immediately flowed 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 against the floor in frustration.
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