My abstract plant was exposed by my sister.

For three days after the live stream ended, Lin Muyang's phone was ringing almost nonstop.

He put his phone on Do Not Disturb mode and refused to answer any unknown numbers.

But messages kept pouring in from all sides: screenshots of private messages forwarded by Xiao Kui, greetings from school teachers, and even the cafeteria lady came to ask him, "Do you still have that cactus that gives the middle finger?"

"Brother!!! Look at this!!!" Xiao Kui rushed into the lab and shoved her phone in his face.

The screen displays the Douyin private message page, with 9,999 unread messages.

Lin Xiaokui exclaimed excitedly, "Someone offered five thousand yuan for one pot! Someone even said one hundred thousand yuan for an all-inclusive package!"

"This is even more outrageous; they asked if we could sign an exclusive agency agreement!"

Lin Muyang stared at the numbers, remaining silent for a few seconds: "Five thousand yuan a pot? Are you crazy?"

"They're not crazy, they're hot!" Xiao Kui's eyes shone like light bulbs. "Brother, let's sell them quickly! Five thousand a pot, a hundred pots would be five hundred thousand!"

Lin Muyang rolled his eyes: "Do you think cacti are printed? You can't just say you want a certain number and expect to get that many?"

"How many pots do you have now?"

Lin Muyang pointed to the windowsill, where there was only one potted plant, the little ancestor with a small bald patch.

Xiao Kui's excitement immediately waned by half: "Only one pot..."

"right."

"Why don't you make more? Don't you have that liquid? Just make another bottle, buy a bunch of cacti, and drip it onto each one, then you'll have it, right?"

Lin Muyang was stunned for a moment. He looked down at his experimental record and turned to the page with the original formula of the induction solution.

The original formula is his own, and he is most familiar with the formulation process for stabilizing and inducing mutations in cactus genes.

He just hadn't thought about mass production before, because in his mind, this was his graduation project, not a product.

"You mean...start a company?" Lin Muyang asked tentatively.

"That's right! I'll handle the live-streaming sales, and you take care of the production technology. We'll split the profits 50/50!"

"55? I prepared the induction solution, I planted the cactus, you were just taking pictures with your phone—"

"I helped you sell it! Without my live stream, who would know your broken cactus was worth five thousand?"

Lin Muyang opened his mouth, only to find that he couldn't refute it. He glanced at the cactus on the windowsill, which gave him the middle finger.

"...Alright then."

It's my own sister, I'm not angry!

For the next week, Lin Muyang barely slept a full night.

He first applied for all the relevant patents, and then he and Lin Xiaokui went to all the flower markets near the school and bought a whole hundred identical cacti, including golden tiger cacti, round cacti, cacti with dense spines, and various other types, about the same size as the first one.

The shop owner thought he owned a shop and gave him the wholesale price, fifteen yuan a pot.

That evening, he spent time in the lab preparing a specific induction solution. The formula was much more refined than the last one. He adjusted the concentrations of several hormones and added stabilizers to ensure that the solution would not evaporate and become ineffective before it came into contact with the plant tissue.

The first batch trial was successful, with 43 pots produced.

Of the fifty-seven failed pots, some only grew thorns and no tendrils, some remained motionless like fools, and a few simply died.

Lin Muyang placed the successful ones on the windowsill, lining them up in a row, creating a rather spectacular scene.

Forty-three cacti, more than four thousand three hundred fingers, all pointing their middle fingers at him.

Lin Muyang stood in front of this "forest of middle fingers," took a deep breath, took out his phone, snapped a photo, and sent it to Xiao Kui: "First batch, forty-three pots."

Lin Xiao Kui replied instantly: "I'll start a live stream to sell them tomorrow!"

The following evening at 8 PM, Lin Xiaokui changed the title of her live stream to "Global Premiere: Limited-Time Sale of the Middle Finger Cactus".

Before the broadcast even started, she already had 800,000 followers.

The video of "the cactus shooting thorns at Dr. Prick" was reposted by major media outlets, and some people even made a slow-motion replay with "bullet time" effects.

Xiao Kui arranged the forty-three cacti neatly on the shelf behind her, each pot labeled with a number.

"Family, tonight's main characters aren't Xiao Kui, they're the ones!" She stepped aside to reveal the "forest of middle fingers" behind her.

The barrage of comments exploded instantly.

"Holy crap, is this wholesale?"

"So many!!!"

"Why do I feel like they're all watching me?"

"Mom, I'm scared."

Xiao Kui picked up cactus number one and brought it close to the camera. All the fingers of the cactus turned towards the camera in unison, raising their middle fingers in perfect unison.

"Family members, every single one of these plants is cultivated using the same formula as my first 'Middle Finger Guy' plant. I guarantee its purity, its strong temperament, and that you'll experience the joy of being mocked by these plants."

The comments section was scrolling even faster:

"How much is one pot?"

"I want ten potted plants to put on the company boss's desk!"

"This is the perfect gift for our office team building event!"

Lin Xiaokui held up a sign: "First batch limited to forty-three pots, priced at four thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine per pot!"

"It's a bit expensive."

"Five thousand dollars for a cactus?"

"But I really want it."

"I'm taking it first, don't try to take it from me."

Lin Xiao Kui shouted at the camera, "Link up!"

Forty-three potted cacti sold out in seventeen seconds.

Lin Xiaokui's hands were trembling as she looked at the order data in the backend.

Forty-three pots, each costing four thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine, the total sales... She couldn't figure it out after calculating for a long time, while Lin Muyang coldly said from the side, "Two hundred and fourteen thousand nine hundred and fifty-seven."

"Brother, you're really good at math!"

"It's because you're bad at math."

The days that followed were like watching a video played at double speed.

The first batch of 43 potted cacti was shipped out, each accompanied by a "Cultivation Instructions" sheet.

It was written by Lin Muyang: Water it once a day, fertilize it once a week, and do not pull out its thorns, otherwise it will shoot out its thorns. You will be responsible for the consequences of pulling out the thorns.

Buyers who received their cacti began posting pictures of them on social media.

Someone put it on their desk and gave their boss the middle finger;

Some people even put it on their bookshelves at home and give the middle finger to their unruly children who don't do their homework;

One potted plant was even brought into a live stream by an internet celebrity, where it interacted with the audience, and the number of online viewers more than doubled.

The "Middle Finger Guy" meme has gradually become popular.

The first wave consisted of classic screenshots of the "middle finger" gesture, accompanied by captions such as "Keep talking, keep making things up," "I'll just smile and not say anything," and "I'm too busy to deal with you."

The second wave consisted of screenshots of people making heart shapes with their hands, accompanied by captions such as "Here's a heart for you to experience" and "Smiling on the outside, cursing on the inside."

The third wave consists of slow-motion screenshots of "launching spikes," captioned "Try saying another one."

Cactus emojis are everywhere on social media.

Some people use it to respond to trolls, some use it to appease their superiors, and some use it to express their attitude towards life.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Xiao Kui registered a company called "Mu Kui Technology Co., Ltd." Lin Muyang held 51% of the shares, and Xiao Kui held 49%.

Xiao Kui is both the legal representative and CEO, because Lin Muyang has to deal with the Bureau of Industry and Commerce.

The second batch consisted of 500 potted cacti.

This time, his induction solution formula was more mature, and the success rate increased from 43% to 78%.

A total of 390 pots were successfully made, and each pot still had 4,999 pots.

Xiao Kui implemented a "purchase limit" this time, limiting each person to one pot. As a result, 390 pots were sold out in less than a minute after the sale started.

The live chat was filled with lamentations: "I can't get one!" "Can't there be no purchase limit?!" "Scalpers are selling them for 8,000!"

Xiao Kui smiled like a fool in front of the camera.

The first and second batches of cacti gradually scattered across the country.

Someone gave a cactus as a raffle prize at a company's annual party, and the winner laughed until tears streamed down their face.

Someone gave it to their best friend who had just broken up with her boyfriend, with the caption, "Men are nothing, look, even this cactus is giving you the middle finger."

Some people put it in their car and look at it when they're stuck in traffic, and it inexplicably improves their mood.

One mental health counselor even posted a video on Douyin claiming that the middle finger cactus has a "miraculous effect" on patients with depression.

"When you feel like the whole world has wronged you, and you see a cactus giving you the middle finger, you realize that the plant is also cursing you, but you just laugh."

That video received over two million likes.

Xiao Kui forwarded the message to Lin Muyang: "Brother, someone said you're not growing a cactus, you're growing a psychologist."

Lin Muyang glanced at it but didn't reply, because he was squatting in the laboratory, staring blankly at the hundreds of cacti that had just been induced.

The cacti all gave him the middle finger. He sighed and glanced at the original cactus on the windowsill.

That ancestor, with a small bald patch, the worst temper, and the one who gives the middle finger to the whole world, is lazily basking in the sun.

Its thorns hadn't grown back yet, and those half-grown, bald stumps looked rather pitiful.

But its expression, if plants have expressions, seems a little softer than before.

Lin Muyang reached out to touch it, but unexpectedly it suddenly pointed at him and gave him the middle finger.

"Alright then." Lin Muyang withdrew his hand. "As expected of you."

He turned around and walked to the workbench, opened the reagent cabinet, and looked at the rows of petri dishes, test tubes, and reagent bottles inside.

He needs the next plant.

He flipped through his experimental records, landing on a few pages of drafts he had jotted down earlier: mimosa, tomato, bamboo, morning glory...

Mimosa pudica!

Lin Muyang's eyes lit up.

He walked to the greenhouse area and squatted down in front of the mimosa plant. It was just an ordinary mimosa, its leaves closing up at the slightest touch, quietly sitting in the corner like a shy little girl.

"If I give you a drop of induction fluid... what will you become?" Lin Muyang muttered to himself.

He was somewhat looking forward to it.