Handong: Sha Li wants political achievements? I'll shut down the entire province.

Yan Qingfeng's fingertips gently traced the microchip blueprints on the tablet.

Blue fluorescence illuminated his deep eyes.

"Take over the brain?" Gu Ming swallowed, feeling a dryness in his throat.

"Master Yan, are we going to enter the internet infrastructure market?"

Yan Qingfeng didn't respond and casually tossed the tablet onto the table.

"A press conference will be held tomorrow to announce the full launch of the Yunxiao OS enterprise system and commercial chips."

He curled the corners of his lips into a smile and casually uttered four words: "Free forever."

Three days later, the business community in Handong was in an uproar.

At the Jingzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center, a red carpet stretched for hundreds of meters.

Gu Ming stood on the stage, holding up a chip the size of a fingernail.

"Dear entrepreneurs, not only is Yunxiao OS completely free, but we're also subsidizing the hardware replacement costs!"

"As long as you install our system, you'll receive a subsidy of 3,000 yuan per machine for the first year!"

The hundreds of small business owners in the audience were green with envy.

Business is tough these days; a single set of genuine foreign office software can cost tens of thousands of yuan.

Now the Lingxiao Consortium is actually giving it away for free and even paying for it?

"Pretend! Only a fool wouldn't pretend!" A bald clothing factory owner slapped his thigh and roared.

In just half a month, this technological storm, on a level of disruptive power, swept across the entire Handong region.

It's not just private enterprises; even the intelligent transportation network in Jingzhou City has been replaced.

Even the municipal party committee, in order to save on its nearly depleted fiscal budget, connected to part of the government's external network.

Traffic lights on the street, assembly lines in factories, even the barcode scanners in steamed bun shops.

The progress bar was flashing with the light blue color unique to Cloud OS.

At first, everyone just thought it smelled really good.

The system runs incredibly smoothly, as if it's been coated with oil, and its chip computing power far surpasses that of established foreign brands.

But three months later, some people realized what was going on.

Xinghan Electronics Technology Co., Ltd., Jingzhou High-tech Zone.

Chairman Liu Xinghai stared intently at the computer screen, the veins on his forehead throbbing.

"What the hell is going on here?"

He grabbed the mouse from the table and slammed it against the wall.

The CTO huddled in the corner, too scared to even breathe.

"Chairman Liu, all of our...all our core data is in the cloud."

"What about the customer list? What about the underlying code for the production line?"

Liu Xinghai's eyes were red, like an old wolf that had been driven to desperation.

The technical director stammered in response.

"It's all locked by Yunxiao OS; we can only view it, not export it."

"If we unplug the network cable, the CNC machine tools in the factory won't be able to cut a single screw."

Liu Xinghai slumped into the leather boss's chair.

The back of his shirt was soaked with cold sweat.

Kidnapping.

This is blatant kidnapping!

Yan Qingfeng isn't doing charity at all; he's putting dog leashes on all the businesses in Handong!

Your lifeline, your very being, are all in their hands.

With just one line of code typed on the keyboard, your company can instantly become a vegetable.

"I don't believe in this nonsense!"

Liu Xinghai slammed his hand on the table and stood up, gritting his teeth.

"Back when I was making my way in the South, Yan Qingfeng was still wearing open-crotch pants!"

"Go! Uninstall the entire Cloud System right now!"

Liu Xinghai pointed at the gate, spitting everywhere.

"Spend money! Pay a high price to buy back the overseas operating system and reinstall it!"

The technical director turned pale and ran out with trembling hands.

Half an hour later, Xinghan Technology forcibly severed the connection with Yunxiao OS.

The entire business community in Handong remained indifferent and watched.

They wanted to see if the first person to dare to try something new could walk out alive.

However, reality taught everyone a bloody lesson.

Just two hours later.

Liu Xinghai was sitting in his office, smoking silently.

The secretary scrambled open the door, tears and snot streaming down her face.

"Chairman, something's happened! Something terrible!"

"What's the panic!" Liu Xinghai stubbed out his cigarette.

"Ling Xiao sent people to cause trouble?"

"No! The trucks can't get in!"

The secretary was holding up a phone, and the screen was shaking.

"The logistics company's drivers said that their navigation systems are all from CloudWalk."

"As soon as they locate our factory, the system immediately reports it as a virus, and they won't even open the toll gates at highway toll booths!"

A loud "buzz" went through Liu Xinghai's head.

Before he could even recover his senses...

The landline on the table rang.

He grabbed the microphone; the person opposite him was the manager of the local rural bank.

"Mr. Liu, your account has a major security risk."

The bank manager spoke in an official tone, but his voice carried a chilling undertone.

"The risk control system has triggered an alarm. We have to withdraw your 20 million loan in advance."

"Transfer the principal and interest by 5 p.m., or our legal team will come and seal the door."

"You're talking nonsense! I just paid the interest yesterday!"

Liu Xinghai yelled at the top of his lungs, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

"Beep beep beep..."

The other end of the phone hung up immediately.

Immediately afterwards, the suppliers started calling one after another.

"Mr. Liu, your company's order system is incompatible; our warehouse can't print the orders."

"The raw materials can't be delivered today, so you'll still have to pay the penalty for breach of contract."

Disconnect the Internet.

Out of food.

The road is blocked.

In just twenty-four hours.

A well-established technology company with a valuation of 300 million yuan and a prominent reputation in Handong.

It's like a patient whose oxygen tube has been removed; they didn't even have time to convulse before they died instantly.

The next morning, a biting cold wind swept through the streets of Jingzhou.

A news item went viral in small business groups in Handong.

"Xinghan Technology went bankrupt and was liquidated. Chairman Liu Xinghai climbed to the top of the factory and attempted to jump but failed."

In the photo, Liu Xinghai is being held down on the ground by firefighters.

His hair had turned completely white, and he wailed like a lump of mud.

Where is the dignity of an entrepreneur?

It was 8 p.m. in a secluded, upscale teahouse in Jingzhou.

The heating was on full blast, but the people inside were shivering from the cold.

Wang Dalu, chairman of Dalu Group, is holding a purple clay cup.

The tea in the cup had long since gone cold, with a layer of white foam floating on top.

The building material shop owners sitting next to me all hunched over, looking like a few quails.

"Did you see what happened to Lao Liu?"

The bald boss lowered his voice, as if he were telling a ghost story.

"Twenty-four hours! I was practically suffocated."

He gulped down a mouthful of cold tea, his teeth chattering against the rim of the cup.

"This Master Yan isn't doing business; he's trying to kill us!"

Another bespectacled boss sighed deeply, his face ashen.

"Who can argue with that? Things have changed drastically in Handong now."

"Your data, your money, your purchases and sales, are all stored in someone else's cloud."

Wang Dalu remained silent.

He stared at the tea leaves in the water glass, his eyes shifting uncertainly.

He originally followed Li Dakang and could be considered a businessman with official connections.

But Li Dakang can't even utter a fart now, and it looks like Ling Xiao is about to crush Dalu Group's business.

Those who follow the natural order prosper, those who oppose it perish.

These eight words, like a bloodstained steel stamp, slammed hard onto the heads of all the bosses in Handong.

"Brother Dalu, say something!"

The bald man got impatient and shoved Wang Dalu.

"We old buddies have to find a way to survive, right? How about we sign a petition to the provincial party committee to sue him for monopolistic practices?"

"Sue?" Wang Dalu glanced at him as if he were an idiot.

"They even managed to turn back the imperial envoy from the capital, what grounds do you have to sue?"

"You agreed to install the system yourself, and you happily collected the subsidy yourself."

Legally, he's even cleaner than your grandfather!

The private room fell into a deathly silence.

An indescribable sense of despair choked everyone like mud.

Wang Dalu suddenly stood up.

He grabbed the expensive suit jacket from the back of the chair with such speed that it created a gust of wind.

A sickly resolve appeared on that old face that had weathered the ups and downs of the business world.

"Brother Dalu, where are you going so late at night?" the bald man asked blankly.

Wang Dalu was putting his arms into his sleeves while adjusting his tie.

He even pulled out a thick stack of share transfer documents from his pocket and clutched them tightly in his hand.

"A way out is something you have to beg for, not something you have to wait for."

A hint of madness flashed in Wang Dalu's eyes as he strode toward the door, leaving behind a single sentence without looking back.

"Prepare the car. Head to Lingxiao Building, and be Master Yan's dog."