Chapter Fifty-Four: So Liu Ze Was Waiting for Me Here All Along

The next day, Zhou Xuan received a call from Yan Lanxi, the content of which, of course, revolved around whether he was the legendary Zhouzi Xuan from the Ming Dynasty. Zhou Xuan admitted it graciously but warned Yan Lanxi not to disclose any of his information. As for Fan Yixuan’s desire to continue purchasing songs, Zhou Xuan declined, citing the need to prepare for the upcoming high school entrance examination.

Determined to keep a low profile until he entered university, Zhou Xuan had no intention of revealing his identity at this time. Naturally, the reason was that he was not yet ready to be exposed to the public eye or to confront the era of the internet. For the next year or two, he needed to lie low, accumulate capital, and improve his abilities.

To prevent Yan Lanxi, Xiling Publishing House, Zhongzhou Publishing House, and Keda Publishing House from leaking his information, Zhou Xuan called each of them personally to remind them. His reasoning was simple: if they wished to continue collaborating with him in the future, they’d better be smart about it.

Though somewhat disappointed, Yan Lanxi in Rongzhou naturally dared not refuse Zhou Xuan’s request. Fan Yixuan, far away in Huhai, was also deeply disappointed upon hearing the news but could do nothing. She knew well the prowess of Zhouzi Xuan—despite the numerous magazines criticizing "Stories of the Ming Dynasty," its sales only soared afterward.

Though this matter unfolded in the publishing world, many in the entertainment industry closely followed it. They had expected that under the pressure of so many publishing houses, the Ming Dynasty series would fade into obscurity. But little did they know, once the history master made a move, all the previously critical publishers fell silent. Such power was not something ordinary people possessed. Thus, everyone speculated that there must be other influences at play, a testament to how formidable Zhouzi Xuan truly was.

Since Zhouzi Xuan refused to write any more songs, it was better that no one else got a share—actually the best possible outcome. However, this was the most frustrating result for Fan Yixuan and her company. They had hoped that their previous connections would grant them an early advantage, only to find that Zhou Xuan’s deal was a one-time transaction with no follow-up.

Zhou Xuan, naturally, paid no mind. As long as he refused to write songs, no one could track him down. The reporters who came to Rongzhou searched fruitlessly for days and left disappointed.

Three days later, Zhou Xuan received the design plans for a countryside villa from Deng Cheng. The architect had prepared two designs based on Zhou Xuan’s basic requirements. After reviewing them with his parents, they all favored the second design.

The second villa design featured three levels: the third floor had a large balcony and two rooms as Zhou Xuan requested; the second floor included three bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom, and a study; the first floor boasted a spacious living room occupying half the floor area, easily accommodating five large round tables, plus a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and storage room.

The villa’s front and left sides were surrounded by a seven-meter-wide compound yard stretching over thirty meters, with flowers and plants along the edges. Since Zhou Xuan’s ancestral home sat halfway up a mountain, the yard’s right side included a basement that could serve as a garage or storage for farming tools.

After choosing the design, Zhou Xuan’s father began purchasing the materials needed for construction. The construction crew consisted of local carpenters, masons, and plasterers who often helped villagers with repairs, including Zhou Xuan’s uncle, who was also called in to assist.

In the second week of Zhou Xuan’s final semester of junior high, their old house was demolished, and the workers began leveling the foundation with great enthusiasm. Villagers, seeing the mountains of building materials arriving at Zhou Xuan’s home, couldn’t help but exclaim, “The Zhou family must have struck it rich! Looks like they’re building the grandest house in the whole village.”

Time passed unhurriedly, and before long it was February 27th, the day of the first monthly exam after school resumed. Zhou Xuan finished early, submitted his paper, and returned home by 3 p.m.

Opening his inbox, he found an email from Wei Lian containing a summary report on the promotion of the internet café management system in Rongcheng for February. The email detailed the progress from February 7th to the month’s end.

By month’s end, most internet cafés and computer rooms in Rongcheng had installed the management system, with a cumulative sale of 197 units and revenue of 470,000 yuan—a strong start. The next goal was to promote the Universal Internet Café Management System nationwide, conquering every city in China and achieving the company’s leapfrog development.

Seeing the tens of thousands in revenue, Zhou Xuan was thrilled. Once the promotion staff spread across the country, business would surely flourish, and monthly income would multiply several times over.

Next, Zhou Xuan accessed the system’s statistical server to check on its current operation. Whenever at least one server in the entire network was connected online, it would link to Zhou Xuan’s statistical server, uploading data such as installation IP addresses, installation dates, and the number of managed computers for aggregation.

“Hmm!” Zhou Xuan was startled upon viewing the homepage statistics. “This isn’t right.”

The data clearly showed 327 internet café management subsystems installed, managing an astonishing 6,769 computers. Even including the dozen or so cafés in county towns, the total should only be around 210 systems. How could there be 327, especially since some small computer rooms didn’t even have a single internet-enabled computer?

“Damn it, someone’s been secretly selling the system to other cafés and computer rooms without reporting to Wei Lian, pocketing the entire 3,000 yuan per copy!”

Immediately, Zhou Xuan realized the issue. The software could be copied multiple times; he had not restricted the number of copies beforehand, and doing so was difficult in any case.

However, what they didn’t realize was that once installed, the system would automatically connect to Zhou Xuan’s statistical server, recording IP addresses, installation time, number of managed machines, and other details.

Through analysis, Zhou Xuan identified a batch of IP addresses that were markedly different from the others. This group consisted of just over 110 systems—the exact number of excess subsystems.

Tracing these unauthorized systems, Zhou Xuan discovered their IP addresses were all located in cities north of Rongcheng: Yangcheng, Daguang, and Huichong.

“Not in Rongcheng at all, but in Yangcheng, Daguang, and Huichong... my internet café management system has been copied and spread there. Who’s behind this?” Zhou Xuan refused to believe that the few recruited salespeople had such capability. Surely other forces were involved.

After a long pause, Zhou Xuan muttered softly, “Damn it! Liu Ze, Tengfei Group, you’re asking for trouble!”