Chapter 144: The Big Winner [Bonus Chapter]

"You bastard! How could you leak so many confidential files, and even things we secretly entrusted to you were exposed because of your company? Do you have any idea how much of a passive and vulnerable position you've put the country in right now?" The current President of the United States fiercely slammed his desk, yelling at Bill through the video call.

Bill dared not talk back. He could only nod and bow repeatedly while confessing his faults. Then, desperately trying to shift the blame onto Lin Feng, he said, "Mr. President, all of these leaks are the work of Lin Feng from China. That kid truly deserves to die!"

Although Bill described it vividly, the President did not believe a word of his excuses; instead, he grew even angrier.

"Shut up! You still have the nerve to speak? If you hadn't provoked him, would we be in this mess right now? You didn't just screw over Microsoft; you've screwed over our entire country!" The President angrily cut Bill off, pointing a finger directly at Bill's face through the video screen as he continued to scold him.

"This, this..." Once again, Bill was left speechless by the President's reprimand.

"Hmph, I will arrange for someone to handle the trouble caused by this security breach, so you don't need to get involved. But regarding Lin Feng, I expect no more complications. I don't want to finish dealing with one mess only for Lin Feng to expose another," the President threatened as he looked at the speechless Bill.

"Yes, I understand, I understand!" At that moment, how could Bill dare say anything else? He could only nod continuously in agreement.

Seeing that Bill had agreed, the President finally ended the video call.

When Bill saw the computer screen before him finally go dark, recalling the President's parting warning, he couldn't help but snap the fountain pen in his hand in sheer frustration, venting his hatred toward Lin Feng! The company's stock had plummeted over tenfold, and countless international financial institutions had swarmed in like a pack of wolves, trying to carve off a piece of flesh from Microsoft. Lin Feng had taken the largest slice of all, and yet now, Bill still had to swallow his pride and apologize to Lin Feng, begging him not to release any more documents that would harm them. Thinking about all this, Bill's fury burned hotter and hotter, but in the end, he had no choice but to compromise.

Lin Feng had just finished his phone call with Premier Zhu. At this moment, he was staring at the stock market trend charts for Microsoft, calculating how many shares he had acquired with the money he poured into the market, and figuring out how much those shares would be worth if sold at normal market prices!

"Mo Tian, we've made a fortune! A colossal fortune! If Microsoft's stock can recover to its normal value, our profits this time will be at least tenfold! In less than a single day, ten billion has turned into a hundred billion or even more!" As Lin Feng calculated the sum, his eyes widened, and he stared intently at Mo Tian in sheer astonishment.

"Heh, what's there to be so surprised about? Isn't the stock market always like this? Though this time it's a special circumstance—when do you ever get an opportunity like this normally?" Seeing Lin Feng getting a bit carried away, Mo Tian unceremoniously brought him back down to earth.

Hearing this, Lin Feng thought about it and realized Mo Tian was right. Opportunities like this were truly once-in-a-lifetime. In other words, through this whole ordeal orchestrated by Lin Feng, Microsoft had suffered losses of at least a hundred billion.

Suddenly, the phone on the desk rang again.

Lin Feng couldn't help complaining to Mo Tian, "There sure are a lot of phone calls today!" Even as he complained, he reached out, picked up his smartphone from the desk, and brought it in front of him.

Looking at the familiar international call displayed on the screen, Lin Feng chuckled a few times before saying to Mo Tian, "It's a call from Bill. Do you think he's calling to vent his anger this time, or to beg for mercy?"

Instead of playing along with Lin Feng's guesswork this time, Mo Tian gave him a speechless, sideways glance and said, "With all that nonsense, why waste energy guessing? Just answer it and you'll find out!"

"Hello, who is this?" Lin Feng pressed the answer button and immediately spoke into the phone, seizing the initiative.

However, there was no immediate response from the other end.

"Hello? Is anyone there? If nobody speaks, I'm hanging up!" Knowing that Bill was doing it on purpose, Lin Feng intentionally raised his voice to provoke him.

Lin Feng's provocation worked. Hearing that Lin Feng was about to hang up, Bill hurriedly shouted into the phone, "Don't hang up yet! It's me, it's me!"

"Oh, and you are...?" Lin Feng continued to feign ignorance, asking as if he had no idea who was speaking.

On the other end of the line, Bill could certainly guess that Lin Feng was doing it on purpose. He gnashed his teeth in hatred, but unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to Lin Feng. In the end, he had to force a polite tone and say, "Chairman Lin, I believe we had some misunderstandings previously, so I specifically called today to chat with you and resolve the friction between our two sides."

"Don't say that! There are no misunderstandings between us; we're just engaged in normal industry competition. Besides, I wouldn't dare trouble Chairman Bill to personally call and clear the air—I simply can't accept such an honor!" Hearing that Bill was still playing dishonest, Lin Feng brushed him off.

Realizing that Lin Feng was completely impervious to persuasion and determined to play the fool, Bill had no choice but to cut straight to the point and ask, "Chairman Lin, what will it take for you to stop? Name your conditions!"

Lin Feng was finally satisfied. Since the other party had dropped the pretense, Lin Feng naturally stopped holding back and stated, "Since you put it that way, I won't stand on ceremony. Buy back all the Microsoft shares I acquired at twice their current market price. If you agree to this condition, I guarantee that no further materials will make their way onto the internet."

"You bastard! So it really was your doing! Twice the market price? Don't you think your appetite is too big? Aren't you afraid of bursting your stomach?" Although he had suspected that the information circulating online was Lin Feng's handy work, hearing Lin Feng admit it out loud still filled Bill with immense irritation.

"Heh, Mr. Bill needn't worry about my appetite; my digestion has always been exceptionally good, so you don't need to waste your energy on that. Judging by your tone just now, it sounds like you aren't going to agree? No worries, I have plenty of materials and all the time in the world to play with you," Lin Feng threatened. Although he no longer had any damaging documents regarding Microsoft in his hands, Lin Feng believed Bill couldn't call his bluff; for the sake of Microsoft, Bill would have to compromise.

Sure enough, upon hearing that Lin Feng intended to continue leaking information, Bill was instantly startled! Not daring to bargain with Lin Feng any further, he immediately agreed to the terms and said, "Fine! We'll do as you say. I just hope Chairman Lin keeps his word." As soon as Bill finished speaking, a dial tone sounded from the phone, indicating the call had been disconnected.

Lin Feng slowly placed the phone back onto his desk, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth as he looked at Mo Tian and said, "Do you think he just smashed another phone?"

"Heh, if I were him, I'd smash one too. Originally, he could have bought back the shares at the normal market price of one hundred billion, but who would have thought a single phone call would cost him an extra hundred billion in compensation! After this incident, Microsoft won't be dead, but it'll be crippled. Its reign of dominance is gone for good. But you really are something else, kid—how dare you open your lion's maw and demand double the price? How did you know he'd agree?" Mo Tian smiled as well, offering a rare compliment to Lin Feng.

"Because he's desperate. As long as it doesn't cross his absolute bottom line, he'll agree to anything. He must have been pressured by the U.S. government; otherwise, someone as arrogant as Bill would never lower himself to call me for a deal. Since the fish delivered itself to my doorstep, I'd feel bad if I didn't fleece him properly," Lin Feng explained with a smile. Having suddenly made such a massive sum of money, he was in extremely high spirits.

Although the negotiation between Bill and Lin Feng was conducted in secret, with Microsoft unilaterally paying Future Technology Company two hundred billion to buy back all the shares Lin Feng had acquired, outsiders could easily piece together what had happened.

That evening, Xia Ruoxi returned home, sat in the Lin family's living room, and stared speechlessly at Lin Feng with a terrified expression. Not only was she wearing that look, but both Lin Chuanzhi and his wife wore expressions as if they had just seen a ghost.

After a long moment, Lin Chuanzhi recovered from the shock. He anxiously sought confirmation from Lin Feng once more, asking, "Are you certain you're not lying? You kid turned ten billion into two hundred billion in just a single day?!"

"Yes, Dad, I've already said it several times. What will it take for you guys to believe me?" Lin Feng replied, speechless as he repeated the exact same explanation.

"Good grief! Your profit in a single day is more than your old man has made in his entire lifetime. Ah, there's no denying age anymore!" Lin Chuanzhi said to Lin Feng with a hint of melancholy.

"That's right, and the money you pulled in today is pure profit, more than Future Technology Company earns in an entire year. I'm starting to wonder if we even need to keep running the company anymore—letting you rake in cash like this makes money much faster than running a business!" Xia Ruoxi chimed in from the side.

Seeing that they were getting the priorities backwards, Lin Feng quickly spoke up to explain, "Do you guys think this kind of thing happens every day? If it weren't for the coincidental opportunity to catch Microsoft with their pants down, a deal like this would be completely impossible."

Lin Feng's words snapped Lin Chuanzhi and Xia Ruoxi back to reality. "Right, the kid is right! Your old man hit a dead end there, only thinking about the transaction amount and overlooking the cause and effect behind it! But after this battle, Microsoft is bound to step down from the throne of industry number one. Though we don't know who will take their place, I'm very optimistic about your Future Technology Company. As long as you can maintain this growth momentum and release new technologies and products next year, I believe the title of industry leader will fall to your company!"

"Yes, Dad makes complete sense! I never expected Microsoft to fall like this. Looks like I've got plenty of motivation for work now—the crown of number one in the industry has got to belong to Future Technology Company!" Stimulated by Microsoft's downfall, Xia Ruoxi said excitedly to Lin Feng and Lin Chuanzhi.

"Heh, Ruoxi has ambition! Dad supports you," Lin Chuanzhi couldn't help teasing and encouraging her.

Lin Feng simply smiled with absolute confidence. Even if Microsoft still had its strength, that crown of number one would sooner or later belong to Future Technology Company—it wasn't going anywhere!

Lin Feng turning ten billion into two hundred billion in a single day also became a cautionary tale used by various prominent families in Yanjing to discipline their children and juniors.

In the Yanjing Wang family, when Wang Man learned that not only had Lin Feng not crashed and burned, but he had actually made a massive profit, he flew into a rage, smashing everything within reach in his bedroom to vent the fury pent up in his heart.