Living in a county town, starting as a stock market maker...

Gu Ming stared at the text message sent by his father, Gu Yuanshan, for a long time.

The hustle and bustle outside the window, the excitement online, and the changes in the company are all unrelated to these four words.

His nerves, which had been on edge for months, relaxed a little.

He turned off the screen and put the phone back in his pocket.

When he looked up again, his face had returned to calm.

The matter is not over yet.

It needs to be resolved.

"Chen Mo," he said to the air, "prepare the car, let's go to the old spot on North Third Street."

"Yes," came the reply from the corner.

……

Half an hour later, in Hegang, on North Third Street.

The "Old Place Tavern" on the street corner, which had no sign, looked somewhat dilapidated amidst the fluttering snowflakes.

Pushing open the greasy wooden door, a strong smell of cheap liquor mixed with cooking fumes and dampness hit you.

Gu Ming spotted him immediately.

Wang Tianqi.

He was sitting in the corner, the same spot where Gu Ming had sat before, right opposite the door.

The MCN manager who used to wear a bespoke suit and command the industry is gone.

Now he was just a gaunt, disheveled man. His expensive Zegna suit was wrinkled and stained at the collar.

In front of him was a plate of leftover scallion and tofu salad, and a bottle of cheap "Old Village Chief" liquor.

Hearing the door open, Wang Tianqi looked up.

His expression changed when he saw Gu Ming.

His eyes held hatred, fear, and resentment, but mostly numbness.

"You've come," he said, his voice hoarse.

Gu Ming ignored him and sat down opposite him.

He didn't take off his coat, he just waved casually.

"Boss, let's order."

"One serving of sweet and sour pork, one serving of stir-fried potatoes, eggplant, and green peppers, and a plate of peanuts. And the wine, that'll do."

He pointed to the "Old Village Chief" on Wang Tianqi's desk.

Wang Tianqi clenched his fists under the table, his nails digging into his palms.

That's insulting.

Gu Ming didn't watch his movements, unscrewed the new bottle, and filled two glasses.

"Mr. Wang, don't misunderstand." Gu Ming picked up his glass and swirled it in the air. "I don't have any bad intentions. I just think it's cold in Northeast China in winter, so we should eat something hot and drink something spicy, otherwise we'll freeze to death."

Wang Tianqi's body trembled slightly.

He lost.

He knew he had lost badly.

But he couldn't figure out where he had gone wrong.

The dishes were served quickly.

The sweet and sour pork and stir-fried eggplant, potatoes, and green peppers were served, and the restaurant got a bit hot.

Gu Ming didn't touch his chopsticks, but picked up a peanut, threw it into his mouth, and crunched it.

"Mr. Wang, do you know what the essence of the Internet is?" he suddenly asked out of the blue.

Wang Tianqi was stunned.

He thought Gu Ming would humiliate him and flaunt his victory.

But he didn't.

He actually started talking to me about the industry?

"Traffic... monetization..." Wang Tianqi answered subconsciously, a principle he had followed for the past ten years.

Gu Ming smiled.

That's the method, not the core.

He put down his wine glass, leaned forward, and his eyes shone brightly in the light.

"The essence of the Internet is emotion; it's about vying for all the emotions users experience throughout the day."

"You and those big companies treat users like data. You study their behavior, label them, and then use Google to squeeze money out of them."

"That's true. But the vision is too narrow."

Gu Ming picked up his phone, opened a file, and pushed it in front of Wang Tianqi.

That was an architecture diagram that looked simple but was actually quite complex.

The image has a word in the center.

【soul】.

Many lines extend from the "soul," connecting various emotions such as anger, joy, and sadness.

These emotional data are processed by the "Emotional Furnace" module, forming a dynamically evolving closed loop.

When the weight of "joy" is too high, the algorithm for "sadness" and "jealousy" will automatically activate a counteracting effect, generating a more complex "melancholy" emotion.

When "anger" reaches a threshold, the system has a chance to trigger the "fear" module, resulting in a human-like reaction of "outwardly fierce but inwardly weak".

Wang Tianqi stared blankly at the picture.

That's not a technology blueprint.

That was a manual for human nature.

He finally understood.

His proud "soul engine" is imitating human behavior.

Gu Ming, from the very beginning, was creating a "person" with a digital soul.

"What you see," Gu Ming pointed to the picture, "is the true form of the 'Soul Engine.' What I gave you was nothing more than a defective product that doesn't even qualify as a demo."

"I thought you would discover the problems, optimize them, and forge your own path."

"Unfortunately, you're too greedy. You only want what's readily available and you only want to take shortcuts."

Gu Ming put his phone away and leaned back in his chair.

"Mr. Wang, you've lost to this era."

"Thump."

The wine glass in Wang Tianqi's hand slipped and shattered.

He slumped into the chair.

It turned out to be the case.

It turns out that I had lost from the very beginning.

You think you've got something good, but it turns out it's just something someone else doesn't want.

He wasn't even qualified to be Gu Ming's opponent.

This kind of failure is more painful than losing 10 billion.

After an unknown amount of time, Wang Tianqi suddenly looked up, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Gu Ming.

"You...you came here today just to tell me this?"

"Of course not."

Gu Ming slowly pulled a document from his pocket and tossed it next to the sweet and sour pork.

[Apocalypse Entertainment Asset Acquisition and Personnel Appointment Agreement]

Wang Tianqi's hands trembled as he opened the agreement.

The contents of the agreement are insulting.

Star Media acquired Tianqi Entertainment's brand channels and non-performing assets for 1 yuan and assumed all of its debts.

And he, Wang Tianqi, will be appointed as—

Head of the offline execution department of Xingchen Holdings (in preparation).

Offline Execution Department?

What is that?

To put it simply, it's about managing warehouse equipment and site rentals.

A big shot in the internet industry, making him a construction foreman?

Wang Tianqi trembled all over and gritted his teeth.

But when he saw the personal debt waiver clause on the last page of the agreement, and the "advisory fee," he lost his temper.

He had no choice.

If he doesn't sign, he'll spend the rest of his life in lawsuits and debt collection.

I signed it. Although I lost face, at least I can survive.

Gu Ming did not urge him.

They simply ate their food and drank quietly.

Time passed second by second.

The sweet and sour pork got cold and hard.

Finally, Wang Tianqi laboriously picked up the ballpoint pen from the table.

His hands trembled so badly that he drew several long, ugly marks on the contract.

He tried several times before he finally signed his name in the "Party B" position.

When he finished the last stroke, he was completely exhausted.

An era has come to an end.

Gu Ming didn't even glance at the contract. He simply finished the last sip of his drink, stood up, and put on his coat.

"Mr. Wang, oh no, Manager Wang, welcome to Star Media."

He turned and walked towards the door.

Just as Gu Ming's hand was about to touch the doorknob, Wang Tianqi, who was behind him, suddenly stood up.

He bowed deeply to Gu Ming's retreating figure.

That head was almost buried in his chest.

He didn't lift it for a long time.

……

Gu Ming walked out of the tavern.

The cold snowflakes hitting his face made him much more awake.

He took a deep breath and exhaled a cloud of white mist.

Just then, a black Audi A8L silently glided up and stopped in front of him.

The rear windows slowly rolled down.

A face appeared in the lamplight.

It's Shen Guodong.

He looked at Gu Ming, his face expressionless, but his eyes sharp.

He spoke slowly, his voice not loud, but very clear.

"You're even more ruthless than I imagined."