Chapter 11: Operating Systems

Seated in the first-floor café of Haixia Plaza, Xia Ruoxi regarded Lin Feng across from her with undisguised contempt. It was a long moment before she finally spoke. “Hmph. I have nothing but disdain for you rich second-generation types. You toss money around like it means nothing. A hundred million! Your father owns a company—why start your own instead of working for him?”

“You have a hundred thousand questions, don’t you? There are plenty of reasons, but really, I just want to. Now that you’re my secretary, all the company’s paperwork is your responsibility—finding an office, recruiting staff, everything. I’ll give you a list of positions we need. Just follow that list and hire accordingly,” Lin Feng replied, handing her a proposal he’d hastily written that morning at Mo Tian’s request.

“You really trust me? Aren’t you afraid I’ll just disappear with that hundred million?” There was a hint of emotion in Xia Ruoxi’s voice as she watched him.

“I don’t know why I trust you, but I can afford to bet that much on a person’s character. If you did take the money and run, you’d lose far more in the long run,” Lin Feng said, rising to leave.

“You’re leaving already? But…” Xia Ruoxi’s voice trembled with nervousness as she saw him stand.

“What about it? I need to source our product. You don’t have to worry about what we’re going to sell—I’ll handle that. Just make sure all the groundwork is laid,” Lin Feng replied, turning to go. He needed to get back and let Mo Tian use his body to copy those product designs and systems; he didn’t have time to dawdle.

Xia Ruoxi stared at Lin Feng’s departing figure, then down at the bank card and proposal in her hands. Were it not for these tangible things, she would have thought it all a dream.

The following month nearly worked Xia Ruoxi to death. She scoured the city for office space, registered the company, and recruited staff per Lin Feng’s requirements. Whenever she hit a snag or had a question, Lin Feng’s phone was always off. It infuriated her to the point she wanted to quit, but in the end, through sheer determination, she managed to get the company’s initial structure up and running.

As for Lin Feng, he vanished for the entire month, holed up in his villa. He only emerged at mealtimes to see his family; the rest of the time, he secluded himself, allowing Mo Tian to control his body and churn out designs and systems. His erratic behavior kept his family in a constant state of alarm, but after much pleading and persuasion, Lin Feng finally managed to allay their suspicions.

One day, as Mo Tian was remotely controlling Lin Feng’s body, he suddenly severed their mental link and retreated into the jade pendant. The abruptness startled Lin Feng, and regaining control of himself, he anxiously asked the pendant, “Mo Tian, what happened? Why did you stop writing the programs? Is something wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. The programming is done, so there’s no need for me to keep controlling you. Did you think this didn’t cost me anything? My soul is now as weak as it can get. For the time being, I need to stay in the pendant and recover. You really need to keep practicing the Human Sovereign Technique—when you reach a higher level, it’ll start to help me,” Mo Tian’s feeble voice sounded from within the pendant.

“Ah, so it’s finally finished. But is your soul going to be okay?” Lin Feng asked with concern.

“I won’t fade away just yet. You should take this system to the company and have the programmers test it. If it checks out, get it to market as soon as possible,” Mo Tian replied weakly.

“Alright, got it! But after a month of being completely out of touch, I have no idea how that woman, Xia Ruoxi, has managed things,” Lin Feng murmured anxiously.

“Heh, wasn’t she your pick? Lost confidence in her already?” Mo Tian teased.

Lin Feng didn’t answer, but immediately powered up his phone, which had been off for a month, and dialed Xia Ruoxi’s number. Before he could say a word, a tirade of expletives erupted from the other end.

“You bastard! You finally turned your phone on! Do you even remember you have a company? I thought you’d vanished off the face of the earth…” Xia Ruoxi’s voice thundered through the receiver.

“Whoa, calm down! Didn’t I tell you I trusted your abilities? Now I’m coming to check on the results. How’s everything going?” Lin Feng interrupted, cutting off her angry rant.

“Hmph. Basically, everything’s set up according to your instructions. But the company’s been open for a month and no one knows what we’re selling. Everyone’s on edge, and money’s burning by the day!” Xia Ruoxi complained, her voice still brimming with frustration.

Unable to take any more of her complaints, Lin Feng hastened to reassure her, “I’ve got the product now. I’ll bring it to the company. Send me the address and have the technical staff ready for a meeting.”

“Alright! I rented the entire third floor of Haixia Plaza. You can’t miss it—just come in and you’ll see the company right away,” Xia Ruoxi responded, her excitement barely contained.

“Good. See you soon,” Lin Feng said, then hurried to change clothes and pack the massive USB drive containing all the data Mo Tian had prepared, setting off for the company at a brisk pace.

When Lin Feng arrived at the company doors, Xia Ruoxi was already waiting. The moment she saw him, she rushed over, grabbed his arm, and dragged him toward the conference room, grumbling all the while, “If you’d stayed away any longer, I was ready to sell the company!”

She pulled him into the office and straight to the conference room, where she introduced him to the technical team and the heads of each department, then invited him to speak.

Lin Feng surveyed the people in the conference room. These were, after all, the earliest contributors to his budding business. Only after he’d taken in the whole room did he begin, “Hello, everyone. I’m Lin Feng, the owner of this company. Those of you who’ve heard of me will know we’re not short of funds. So relax—if you stay with us, the company’s growth and your own development here will reward your careers handsomely.”

As he spoke, Xia Ruoxi brought in a laptop and connected it to the projector. The screen descended.

Lin Feng continued, operating the computer as he spoke, “Now, I have a personnel announcement. From now on, Xia Ruoxi is the company’s general manager and will oversee all operations, reporting directly to me.” Without waiting for their reactions, he turned to the head of the R&D department. “You’re all industry professionals. Take a look at this operating interface—how does it differ from what’s currently on the market?”

“Ah! Chairman, this isn’t like anything we’ve used before, is it?” the head of R&D exclaimed after a quick glance.

“That’s right. This is nothing like the current systems on the market. It’s not an American operating system, but our own—one over which we have full intellectual property rights,” Lin Feng affirmed.

“What!” the R&D chief blurted out in shock. The other department heads stared at Lin Feng in disbelief. Everyone in the industry knew how difficult it was to develop a computer operating system. The nation itself had been attempting it for years without success.