110 You are being too emotional.

The situation escalated, and it was becoming clear that things were turning unfavorable for the company.

The company had to shift from a passive to an active stance. They immediately issued a public statement regarding the email, announcing a 500,000 yuan scholarship for Wang Lian, expressing gratitude for his contribution to the company.

At the same time, they clarified: the company had been aware of the vulnerability and had already patched it. The only reason it persisted was that a certain individual responsible for the project had failed to submit the complete code.

In this way, what was once a "program vulnerability" was reframed as a "human error." The nature of the incident changed, and consequently, so did the impact. The website heavily publicized this narrative, and by willingly accepting a loss of over ten million yuan like a fool, they actually restored confidence among netizens, who began to view them as reliable.

That was the company's side of the story. As one of the parties involved, Wang Lian’s name suddenly became famous—at least within a small circle.

No. 119 Middle School was one of the worst junior high schools in the city. After Wang Lian became famous, four different junior high schools vied for him. As for high schools, the number was staggering: district key schools, city key schools, provincial key schools, national key schools, private schools—virtually every high school with even a hint of a reputation in the provincial capital sent him invitations for admission without testing.

In short, he was guaranteed admission; he could choose wherever he wanted to go.

What was interesting was that Wang Lian’s academic performance was poor. Aside from math and English, his other subjects were essentially disastrous, and he was not much to look at, either. Before this website vulnerability incident occurred, no one in his class, including all the teachers, had held him in any regard.

Yet, it was precisely because of this neglect that Wang Lian had been able to concentrate on playing with computers, which eventually led to his breakthrough.

As a famous figure in the city, and a glorious individual who had gained national fame, the television station naturally wanted to interview him.

After hearing this, Zhang Pa suspected that his eyes had turned green—the kind of green that gets envious whenever a teacher sees a good student!

This left him feeling very unbalanced. Why was it that other classes at No. 119 Middle School had elites, while his own Class 18 was filled entirely with trash—trash that couldn't do anything?

The ancestors of Class 18, aside from sports, knew absolutely nothing about music, dance, art, or calligraphy—not to mention the incredibly difficult skill of computer programming.

He returned to the office, feeling depressed. He opened his laptop and thought for a long time, planning to write a story about an all-around master. Should the protagonist of the new book be a very poor, all-around master?

He opened the drawer, took out paper and a pen, and began to sketch things out. First, he defined the character, then the macro environment, then the micro environment. Within this setting, he mapped out the main plot line and considered what kind of expectations he should have for the protagonist.

After finishing the outline bit by bit, he looked at his nearly omnipotent protagonist and asked himself: Is this suitable?

Whether it was suitable or not wasn't just a matter of his own imagination; it had to be written for others to see. Only if they found it suitable would it be truly suitable.

After pondering for a while longer, Zhang Pa, who had been idle for so long, finally began to type, and the new story began to emerge.

Just as he was writing, someone sent him a message on Q. It was Pencil.

Pencil was also an online writer, but he was ten thousand times more successful than Zhang Pa.

Previously, to help Zhang Pa, Fatty had specifically reached out to his friend Dahai, who introduced his friend Pencil to meet with Zhang Pa. It was a case of "more friends, more paths." At the time, the four of them had gathered to drink and agreed to do it again.

Pencil asked on Q, "Is your old book finished? When are you starting the new one?"

Zhang Pa replied that he was still thinking about the opening.

Pencil advised him not to rush into writing, but to read more openings first. "Writing a book isn't just about your own imagination. Don't talk about writing your 'dreams'; that stuff is the most useless thing there is. It might not even be what you really want to write; it’s just a boring excuse."

Zhang Pa said, "I haven't thought that much about it."

Pencil continued his advice, telling him to read the openings of all the books on the bestseller list from the last month. While it might not be incredibly useful, it was certainly better than not looking at all. "Look more, learn more, understand more. Then write. Perhaps you'll come up with a different opening and a different story."

Zhang Pa said thank you.

Pencil said, "Why so polite between us people from the same city? Are you free tonight? If not, how about tomorrow night?"

Zhang Pa asked, "Going out for drinks?"

Pencil said yes and added that since the last time was so enjoyable, they should continue, just the four of them again.

Pencil was a big-shot author, and he was willing to look after a "flop" like him. Zhang Pa didn't have the courage to refuse, so he agreed, saying he was free that evening.

"Then tonight, at the same place as last time. You notify Yu Rong; I won't call him." Yu Rong was Fatty's real name.

Zhang Pa said okay. Pencil said see you tonight, and ended the chat.

Looking at the chat window, Zhang Pa called Fatty.

Seeing it was his number, Fatty was a little surprised and laughed, "Didn't we break up?"

Zhang Pa couldn't be bothered to address his nonsense and said directly, "Pencil is treating us to dinner tonight, at the same place as last time."

"He's treating?" Fatty said. "Let me treat; let's go there a bit early."

Zhang Pa said that was fine and hung up.

Fatty was just about to ask what time to go and where to meet... but the line was already dead. He cursed, "That jerk!"

Zhang Pa sat there thinking for a moment, saved his document, and started looking for books to read, following Pencil's advice to read only the first three chapters.

He spent the whole day reading openings, going through the books on the chart one by one, until Fatty called to say he was at the school gate and told him to hurry out.

Zhang Pa agreed, closed his laptop, and left work early.

Fatty was an expert at saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. As soon as they met, he asked, "Who were you angry at yesterday? Why were you angry? What happened? Can we still coexist peacefully and lovingly?"

Zhang Pa glanced at him and got on his bicycle to leave.

Fatty grabbed him, "Big brother, can we take a taxi?"

Zhang Pa thought for over a minute before saying, "Fine."

Fatty nearly died of frustration. "Are you sick? Why did you have to think for so long?"

Zhang Pa locked his bicycle and hailed a cab.

They arrived first. Fatty put 1,000 yuan on the counter, saying he had to pay the bill and that they could settle the difference later.

Pencil and Dahai were as chubby as ever; combined with Fatty, the three of them standing together looked like a wall. They sat down, ordered food, and started drinking.

The main content of their conversation was nonsense.

Drinking with friends who had a similar tolerance was definitely a pleasure. The four of them downed glass after glass, quickly finishing two cases of beer—averaging six bottles per person.

Pencil could not only drink but also lecture. He analyzed openings for Zhang Pa and discussed what type of books were better to write based on his writing style—basically just rambling. Then he continued, "First show your draft to an editor; if the editor approves, then publish it. It saves a lot of trouble. After you publish, watch your recommendation slots. After you've had two recommendations, compare it with the normal data, and you'll know how your book is doing. Then you decide whether to operate it."

Zhang Pa said, "Isn't that just 'gaming the system'? Don't make it sound so nice."

"Fine, I won't argue with you. Given your current status, 'gaming it' is indeed a more appropriate term; you haven't reached the level of 'operating' yet," Pencil said. "As long as the results of the first two recommendations aren't bad, you can decide to game it. Focus on collecting and recommendation votes. The collection count must exceed ten thousand to be worth looking at, but that's all in the early stages. Later on, there are monthly tickets. The competition in the first month of a new book is fierce. Listen to me: as long as the subscription results aren't bad, we game it. It's best to game it until you become a god..."

Zhang Pa said, "You're telling me a fairy tale."

Pencil said, "It's a bit of an exaggeration, but if you game it well and the writing isn't bad, there's definitely a bright future. Making a million a year isn't a dream."

Fatty said, "That's good. A million a year, two million in two years, you can buy a house. You must game your way to godhood."

Zhang Pa shook his head, "We'll see." This was his way of saying no.

Pencil didn't press the issue and raised his glass for a toast. After a few rounds of drinking, he finally spoke again: "When your book reaches 100,000 words, let me know. I'll give you a chapter promotion."

Zhang Pa chuckled, "A chapter promotion? Awesome."

"I was just afraid you wouldn't think much of it," Pencil replied.

While Pencil was talking to Zhang Pa, Fatty was bragging to Dahai about his business, saying that in the future, it would be all girls, surrounded by girls, forever girls. It would be great.

Dahai said, "When you guys get it running, call me to come and see."

Fatty said, "You're too bad. What do you mean 'get it running' and call you to see?"

Dahai felt depressed, "I meant after your business gets started."

When men drink, they often talk about women. If Fatty’s great enterprise actually succeeded, it would be a camp full of beauties. What normal man wouldn't want to go and see?

A drinking session with topics to discuss is always happy. Time flew by until nine o'clock, and everyone said they had had enough and should stop there.

Pencil went to settle the bill, only to be told someone else already had... followed by another round of complaining and bickering. After some stalemate, Fatty ended up paying, and Pencil insisted that he must pay next time, or they wouldn't drink together again.

After seeing Pencil and Dahai off, Fatty asked Zhang Pa, "Are you still angry?"

Zhang Pa said, "Are you sick? Do you know how to talk?"

"Isn't this me caring about you? Damn it," Fatty cursed.

"Get lost," Zhang Pa hailed a taxi.

"Where are you going?" Fatty asked. "How did I offend you? Are you sick or something?"

Zhang Pa said, "Go do whatever you need to do, goodbye." A taxi stopped in front of him, and he headed back to No. 119 Middle School. After getting out, he rode his bike home.

He left quickly, leaving Fatty alone, ruffled in the wind: What kind of madness is this guy having? Going through menopause early?

The next morning, Zhang Pa received a call from Qian Cheng, asking if he had time on Saturday night. Qian Cheng was the best student among the kids in Xingfuli and the only doctor in the entire neighborhood.

Zhang Pa said he didn't have time on Saturday.

Qian Cheng said, "Whether you have time or not, I'm hosting a table; you must come."

Zhang Pa asked curiously, "What are you hosting a table for?"

"Moving," Qian Cheng said. "I discussed it with my mother. Moving early is less of a headache. We aren't planning to stay in the demolition housing anymore. I took out a loan and bought a small two-bedroom apartment. Consider it a housewarming, or a farewell banquet. Who knows when we'll all be able to gather for a drink again."

Hearing this, Zhang Pa felt that things were truly falling apart; everyone was going to scatter...

He thought for a moment and said, "Send me the address. I might be a little late."

"Being a little late is fine, but you must show up. And don't be too late," Qian Cheng instructed.

Zhang Pa said okay, then added, "You're really something."

Qian Cheng said, "Are you sick? Saying something like that for no reason. If you're sick, come to the hospital; I'll examine you."

Zhang Pa asked, "Do I need to buy a ticket to see you?"

"A ticket? What kind of ticket?" Qian Cheng asked.

"For registration. You don't see patients without registration," Zhang Pa replied.

Qian Cheng said, "Then go buy your ticket. Goodbye."