Malice Comes True

The car arrived at the station, and Lu Zhou and Ye Qingchen first went to the Central Bookstore in the North District as planned.

Choosing the North District was natural because the person who gave the store negative reviews was located there. And going to the bookstore provided Ye Qingchen with a place to relax.

Lu Zhou said to Ye Qingchen, "I have something to take care of. You can browse around here for a while."

"Okay, I'll wait for you."

"Let's keep in touch later."

After saying that, Lu Zhou left the bookstore and made a phone call to notify the person to meet at a nearby café.

He chose a corner seat, ordered a hot drink, and took out a notebook from his backpack.

Soon, Lu Zhou's phone rang, and a man of similar age followed the sound and arrived at his table.

Lu Zhou glanced at the man first, then suddenly stood up and patted his shoulder. "Hey, isn't this Hou Ge?"

Hou Ge was somewhat surprised. "Do I know you?"

Lu Zhou smiled and continued, "I'm Xiao Lu. Two years ago, I worked at the Jiajia Huan store in the North District for two weeks."

Hou Ge was initially puzzled, finding it odd that the person he was supposed to transact with today was so enthusiastic. However, when Lu Zhou mentioned the Jiajia Huan store, he wasn't as surprised anymore.

Indeed, he himself had worked in that store selling real estate, and the turnover of employees in that line of work was high, so most people wouldn't remember each other after some time.

Apologizing for not recognizing Lu Zhou, Hou Ge replied, "Haha, sorry about that. My memory has been failing me lately. Long time no see."

Lu Zhou continued with his fabricated story, "Hey, Hou Ge, no need to be polite. I couldn't continue doing it, lost motivation after two failed deals in Xinghai Dongyuan."

Upon hearing Lu Zhou mention a property near the store, Hou Ge, recalling that the store's employees often took clients to view that property, became convinced that Lu Zhou was indeed his former colleague.

Lu Zhou then said, "But Hou Ge, you're doing well now, buying programs worth 500,000 without hesitation."

"Haha, you're quite capable to say that, but it's easy for you to talk. How did you end up doing such high-end work after leaving Jiajia Huan?"

Lu Zhou laughed it off. "Luck, just luck. Over a year ago, I met a mentor online who took me under his wing. We did all sorts of clean and dirty money-making activities. This time in Shenzhen, he arranged for me to come."

"Is that so? I was hoping for some discounts from an old colleague."

"Normally, the mentor sets the price, and we, as apprentices, get a cut. Otherwise, why would they bother teaching us? Think about it, Hou Ge. Isn't it the case?"

Hou Ge couldn't easily reveal his intentions. Although they had already negotiated online, negotiating officially now could potentially save him an extra hundred thousand.

"Xiao Lu, this amount is not small. I'll tell you the truth. I also inquired with others online, and the price difference is negligible. If you can't give me a better deal, it wouldn't be fair. Others are offering the same price."

Lu Zhou waved his hand, intentionally showing a lack of interest. "Fine, Hou Ge. If you put it that way, it's not fun anymore. Go ahead and negotiate. If you're willing to sell, I'm the only one. Others can

do it themselves and open their own stores, which is more profitable. Even my mentor only hangs out online and gave me this assignment to practice because he doesn't care about such small money."

Then he added, "The store at Ali Mall makes a monthly profit of 400,000. I'm selling it for 500,000. You tell me what I'm after."

Facing Lu Zhou, Hou Ge felt somewhat helpless after hearing his words. Clearly, Lu Zhou was unwilling to lower the price.

"Fine, since you put it this way. It's 500,000, then. Cash on delivery."

"You're indeed a boss, not even a hint of frowning over 500,000. Not to mention anything else, if you need any technical means to improve your business, just let me know. Websites, boosting Penguin Groups, phone numbers, bulk registrations—I can help you with anything, Hou Ge."

The other party listened and was clearly intrigued. "Looks like there's a place where I could use your help, bro."

This person, who openly boasts about their experience in making adult films online, couldn't help but take the bait when hearing terms like "Penguin group" and "website" mentioned.

Lu Zhou said, "Tell me, bro, how can I help? I'll do my best."

Hou Ge hesitated for a moment, then spoke up, "I'm involved in selling in-game equipment, you know. I buy second-hand accounts, then use each Penguin account to drain the Q coins and game equipment. It's troublesome, and the profits aren't as high as I imagined. Do you have any connections in this field?"

"It's difficult. Nowadays, Penguin's security measures are getting better and better, and honestly, it's not worth the trouble. The profits from selling individual accounts are limited, let alone second-hand ones."

Lu Zhou sneered, "So, Hou Ge, you've been making money with this for the past two years? That's hard to believe."

Hou Ge seemed a bit embarrassed and laughed, "Haha. It's not good to talk to someone who understands the trade. You see through everything. I'll be honest too, the big money comes from selling adult videos. To be honest, if it weren't for our acquaintanceship, I wouldn't have mentioned it."

Lu Zhou took a sip of his hot drink and said, "Penguin group transformation or website? If you've done it on Weibo, I'll personally create a separate program for Hou Ge! Money can't be reduced, the master will investigate, but when it comes to programming, I can handle it."

Hou Ge seemed skeptical, "Really?"

"Well, that part is easy. It depends on how far Hou Ge can go with it. If it's too difficult, I can't help."

"Okay, let me show you. Can I use a computer?"

Lu Zhou closed the contract document he had open on his computer and handed it over to Hou Ge.

Unbeknownst to Hou Ge, there was a keylogger program running in the background on the computer.

Unaware of the situation, Hou Ge logged into his Penguin account.

While accessing his account, he said, "I have multiple groups. This is just one of the accounts. Now, I hire people to manually upload videos for members to watch."

Then, he opened a browser and entered a URL. "This is a video streaming site I'm running. I had it outsourced, but the technology is so bad, it keeps having issues."

After showing everything, he eagerly asked Lu Zhou, "Xiao Lu, what do you think? Can you help?"

Lu Zhou set down his drink. "Hou Ge, this is quite a sizable operation. It must make several million in a year."

Hou Ge seemed more concerned about whether Lu Zhou could actually help. "Hard to say. It's not like you guys who make 500,000 per deal. Can you really help with this?"

Lu Zhou remained calm. "No problem. I'll help with Hou Ge's business."

...

Next, Lu Zhou received the 500,000 payment and uploaded the code for the Weibo program to Hou Ge's website server.

Lu Zhou's explanation to Hou Ge was that the video streaming site would provide him with a better version, and the Weibo program itself wouldn't require too many resources, so using the website's server would suffice.

With the transaction complete, the two went their separate ways, agreeing to contact each other for further collaboration.

As they left the cafe,

Lu Zhou took out his phone and said, "Hello, officer? There's someone spreading obscenity here..."