After breaking up with my boyfriend, I made a fortune and rose rapidly in my career.

The dial button lit up for three seconds, then Chen Ping pressed it off.

wrong.

Zhou Zhengqing provided Gu Weizhen's resume, not his phone number. Someone who had worked in Silicon Valley for twelve years and held core patents wouldn't be contacted through direct communication.

Chen Ping reopened the document and scrolled to the last page. Below the resume was a line of small print, a note handwritten by Zhou Zhengqing: "Signal account, for first-time contact only. He will verify your identity."

Chen Pingfang retrieved his spare phone from the back seat, installed Signal, entered his account information, and sent a message: "Introduced by Zhou Zhengqing, Chen Pingfang from the Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology."

The message was sent, but there was no read receipt.

He tossed his phone onto the passenger seat, turned the engine, and drove out of the parking space along the riverside promenade. He didn't look at his phone again the rest of the way.

After I got back to my place and took a shower, my spare phone vibrated.

Gu Weizhen replied with four words: Tomorrow, at eight o'clock in the morning.

There's a thirteen-hour time difference; it's 7 PM on their end.

Chen Ping replied with a single word: "Okay."

At 7:50 a.m. the next morning, Chen Ping was sitting in his study with his laptop on the table and Signal's video call interface already open.

At 8:00 sharp, the other party's profile picture lit up, and the call was connected.

In the picture, Gu Weizhen is sitting in a dark leather chair with a clean white wall behind him, nothing hanging on it. He looks to be in his late forties, wearing square-framed glasses, with his hair shaved very short and his chin neatly trimmed, and a gray crew-neck sweatshirt.

He looked completely different from the well-dressed man in his resume photo.

"Director Chen."

Gu Weizhen spoke, his Mandarin was standard, but his pronunciation was a little stiff, a sign of not using Chinese for a long time.

"Dr. Gu."

"How much did Teacher Zhou tell you?"

"Tell me you want to come back."

Gu Weizhen pushed up his glasses and leaned back in his chair.

"Wanting to come back and being able to come back are two different things."

Chen Ping didn't reply, and waited.

Gu Weizhen was silent for a few seconds, then turned his chair to face the camera at an angle.

"I worked at AetherX for twelve years, rising from senior engineer to chief architect. When I left, I signed an eighteen-month non-compete agreement, and I dutifully waited for all eighteen months, not a single day less."

He paused for a moment.

"But three months ago, AetherX's legal department sent me a lawyer's letter, saying that a GAA architecture patent I led in 2019 was a service invention and the intellectual property rights belonged to the company. They demanded that I withdraw the PCT international patent application I filed in my personal name."

Chen Ping gently tapped his fingers on the table.

"Was that patent filed after you left the company?"

"The submission was made after I left the company. However, there is a dispute about the timing of the core concept. AetherX produced a meeting summary of an internal technical review meeting, saying that I had proposed the relevant concept during my tenure."

"What's the actual situation?"

Gu Weizhen pursed his lips.

"My remarks are indeed recorded in those meeting minutes. But what I was discussing was a completely different technological path, which only had a superficial similarity to the later patented solution. They mixed the two things together, just to block me."

Chen Ping leaned back. This tactic wasn't new. In Silicon Valley, eight out of ten intellectual property lawsuits filed by large companies against departing engineers were intimidation tactics. The goal wasn't to win, but to stall. To stall until you couldn't afford a lawyer, until your patent window expired, until your reputation in the industry was ruined.

"You hired a lawyer?"

"We've hired Kirkland & Ellis, the most expensive intellectual property law firm in San Francisco. It's $1,200 an hour. We've been at it for two months, and the other side has requested three postponements. At this rate, the case will drag on for at least another two years."

Gu Weizhen took off his glasses and wiped the lenses with the hem of his hoodie.

"Director Chen, let me tell you the truth."

He put his glasses back on, leaned forward, and got closer to the camera.

"Until this lawsuit is resolved, I won't be able to move an inch. AetherX will use this patent dispute to apply for an exit technology review from the U.S. Department of Commerce. At that point, it won't just be a patent issue; it'll be uncertain whether I can even leave the country."

Chen Ping tapped his knuckles on the table twice, very slowly.

"You mean you want me to help you settle this lawsuit?"

"It's not about helping."

Gu Weizhen's wording was very precise.

"It's a test."

Chen Ping stopped.

"Teacher Zhou told me that you are very capable and that you brought down a vice-provincial-level 'tiger' in the province. I believe all of that. But I'm not facing corrupt officials in China, but the American legal system and a multinational corporation with a market value of three hundred billion US dollars."

Gu Weizhen leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"If you can help me find a breakthrough in this matter, even if it's just a feasible solution, I'll believe you have the ability to ensure that I won't be taken advantage of when I go back."

Chen Ping did not respond immediately.

He looked down and opened the notes in his notebook, typing in two keywords: AetherX, PCT patent.

"Which court has jurisdiction over this case?"

"The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division."

Who is in charge of AetherX's legal department?

Gu Weizhen's jaw tightened for a moment.

"A Chinese American named Kevin Liu, whose Chinese name is Liu Kaiwen. He is the Vice President of Legal Affairs, a graduate of Yale Law School, and has been with AetherX for nine years."

He paused, then added a sentence.

"This person keeps a close eye on all the Chinese engineers who leave AetherX. Last year, a PhD from Shanghai left for TSMC, and he sued him for six months using the same methods. In the end, the man had to pay $1.2 million to settle the case."

Chen Ping wrote down the name: Liu Kaiwen.

"Okay. Give me three days, I'll get a clear picture of the situation first."

"Director Chen."

Gu Weizhen called out to him.

"There's one more thing. No matter what method you use, don't reveal my intention to return to China to anyone. AetherX has business partners in China, and if the information is leaked, they will act quickly."

The call ended.

Chen Ping closed his laptop, leaned back in his chair, and rested his hands on the armrests.

Three days.

He picked up his phone and dialed Zheng Xian's encrypted line.

"Please help me check all the business cooperation records of an American company, AetherX, in China over the past three years. Specifically, check if they have signed any agreements with companies within the province."

Zheng Xian's keyboard began to clatter.

"Found it."

Zheng Xian's reply came much faster than expected, taking only forty minutes.

"In February of this year, AetherX signed a joint R&D agreement with a company in the province called 'Hanxin Microelectronics', focusing on the licensing of automotive-grade chip IP."

Chen Ping's finger stopped on the edge of the table.

Hanxin Microelectronics. He had seen this name before; it was the seventh company on the shortlist for the second phase of the Chipfire project.

What is Hanxin's shareholder structure?

"The largest shareholder is a man named Xu Dongyang, who owns 34%. The second largest shareholder is the Provincial Science and Technology Innovation Guidance Fund, which owns 21%. The fund is managed by the High-Tech Investment Company, which is under the Provincial Department of Science and Technology."

Provincial Department of Science and Technology.

Chen Ping slowly placed his phone on the table.

Gu Weizhen's patent lawsuit involves AetherX. AetherX's business partnerships involve Hanxin Microelectronics. Behind Hanxin stands the Provincial Department of Science and Technology.

If he wants to defuse this time bomb for Gu Weizhen, he'll have to mess with the Provincial Science and Technology Department.

This battle is even more complex than bringing down Zhang Jingru.

Chen Ping opened the drawer, took out Hanxin Microelectronics' application materials for the second phase of the Chipfire project, turned to the third page, and nailed his finger to a line of text.

The project recommender's name is signed by Sun Heming, Director of the Provincial Department of Science and Technology.