The Transaction

Zhou Hongwei acted quickly. Around five in the afternoon that day, he arrived at the coffee shop Chen Mo had mentioned. After receiving the call, Chen Mo grabbed his laptop and materials and immediately headed to the coffee shop.

His rented place wasn't far from the coffee shop; it was a five-minute walk.

Upon entering the coffee shop, Chen Mo looked around. There weren't many people, only a handful. Chen Mo spotted Zhou Hongwei and a few others sitting in a corner.

"Hello, Mr. Zhou." Chen Mo walked over, smiling and extending his right hand.

Seeing Chen Mo, Zhou Hongwei's eyes showed surprise. The voice was familiar, it was the Chen Mo he had spoken to on the phone, but he was a bit too young.

"Hello, Mr. Chen."

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Chen Mo, Zhou Hongwei sat back down with him.

"Mr. Chen, I'd like to see the program you mentioned in person." Zhou Hongwei got straight to the point, even sounding a bit impatient.

"Okay, but I don't have a computer infected with the virus," Chen Mo said.

"We've prepared some."

Zhou Hongwei nodded to the assistant beside him. The assistant took two laptops out of his backpack and placed them on the table.

Both laptops displayed screens locked by the "iron gate."

Chen Mo didn't waste any time. He took out a USB drive, inserted it into a laptop, and typed a few commands. Two minutes later, after the progress bar completed, the computer screen changed, immediately returning to the familiar Windows desktop.

Seeing this, Zhou Hongwei's face lit up with joy.

It's real.

The infected computers were ones they had prepared themselves; there was no way it could be faked. Suppressing his eagerness, Zhou Hongwei continued to watch him scan and clean the second computer.

Seeing the second computer also return to normal, Zhou Hongwei breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back in his chair.

This scene meant that the 'Eternal Heart' virus, which had swept across the globe, had been cracked, and by this excessively young man in front of him.

"Mr. Chen is so young, are you still studying? A student at Binhai University?" Zhou Hongwei asked.

"Is that very important?" Chen Mo smiled lightly.

"It's not important," Zhou Hongwei said with a smile. "Is this program independently developed by Mr. Chen? You're truly young and promising. Are you interested in working for our company?"

"Not at the moment," Chen Mo said, neither humble nor arrogant. "Let's get to the main topic."

Zhou Hongwei carefully observed Chen Mo. This young man's demeanor and conversation were far better than those of the young people he had met before. He was definitely a rare talent.

"Then let's get to the main topic. Mr. Chen is planning to sell the program, right? How much?"

"Not much, eighty million."

Hiss...

As soon as Chen Mo named the price, everyone who heard it gasped and looked at him in surprise.

"Mr. Chen, isn't that price a bit high?" Zhou Hongwei said with a smile.

"If you think it's high, then forget it." Chen Mo shrugged and put the USB drive back in his backpack. "I'll contact the people at Penguin later, maybe they'll be interested."

"Mr. Chen, don't be in a hurry," Zhou Hongwei immediately stopped Chen Mo. "Your price is indeed a bit high. Even if you contact Penguin, they won't give you this price."

"How do you know without trying?" Chen Mo said. "Eternal Heart has indirectly caused hundreds of billions of dollars in losses globally."

"How about this, a fixed price, ten million. Transfer the technology to me, and we'll sign the contract now," Zhou Hongwei said.

"Then forget it," Chen Mo said. "Currently, no one globally has found a way to kill the virus. If your company is the first to release software that can scan and kill 'Eternal Heart,' you'll gain both fame and fortune. I'm already at a disadvantage with this price."

"Thirty million, that's the bottom line," Zhou Hongwei said. "Only nearly a million computers globally are infected. Our company doesn't make money."

"Reputation and fame, that's the key. Mr. Zhou wouldn't be so shallow, would he?" Chen Mo said. "If you don't want it, then I'll contact other companies. This program should significantly increase the market value of Penguin or Qiandu."

Zhou Hongwei didn't expect Chen Mo to be so cunning at such a young age. However, this antivirus program could indeed bring their company both fame and fortune, especially at this critical juncture of the global virus crisis.

If they let the program go to a competitor, their company would lose an opportunity.

"To be honest, we might not profit eighty million from your program."

"Seventy million, no less," Chen Mo said.

"Wait, sixty million," Zhou Hongwei said. "We're releasing a free program, we can't profit too much."

"Whether you make it free or not has nothing to do with me. You can also charge for it." Chen Mo stood up, preparing to leave.

"Wait, seventy million, deal," Zhou Hongwei immediately said.

"Here are the contract and technical materials."

Chen Mo sat back down, took out a USB drive and two copies of the contract from his laptop bag, and placed them in front of Zhou Hongwei.

Seeing the prepared items, Zhou Hongwei was stunned. This young man seemed to have guessed from the beginning that they would compromise.

He had the lawyer beside him carefully review the contract. After confirming there were no issues, he looked at Chen Mo: "I didn't expect such a capable young man to emerge in China."

"You're too kind, too kind. I stumbled upon this program by chance, it's all luck."

"Hmm?"

Zhou Hongwei didn't expect Chen Mo to say something like that, leaving him speechless. A virus that was globally unsolvable, and in his hands, he called it luck? No one would believe that.

"If there are no problems, let's sign the contract," Chen Mo said.

"Okay."

After signing the contract, Zhou Hongwei immediately had someone transfer the money to Chen Mo.

Seeing the successful transfer, Chen Mo chuckled. This was his first pot of gold, earned with his own hands.

Even after deducting personal income tax, he would still have over fifty-six million yuan. Chen Mo's mind was still thinking about how to spend this money.

"Pleasure working with you." Chen Mo shook hands with Zhou Hongwei. "I've already deleted the program data here. Your copy is unique, remember to back it up. I'm leaving now."

"Won't you stay for a meal?"

"No, I'll contact you later."

After saying goodbye to Zhou Hongwei, Chen Mo left the coffee shop with his books.

"Send the program back to the technical department. Call and inform them to bind the antivirus program code to the Guardian and prepare for an update."

After instructing his assistant, Zhou Hongwei looked at the door Chen Mo had left through and fell into deep thought.

At seven o'clock that evening, Seven Tiger's Weibo posted a message.

Seven Tiger Company has developed a program to detect and eliminate 'Eternal Heart'. It is currently undergoing final urgent processing. Once completed, it will be released as soon as possible, free of charge as always.

As soon as the news was released, it immediately caused a sensation in the online world. Seven Tiger's Weibo also attracted countless likes and approvals from netizens.

"History is astonishingly similar. Seven Tiger has found the program software to detect and eliminate 'Eternal Heart', while a certain computer manager is still posting news about playing games."

"A company with a conscience. I'm switching antivirus software right now."

"I support Seven Tiger this time."

This incident also rightfully made headlines on major media outlets.

Everything came without warning.

Currently, matters related to 'Eternal Heart' are hot topics. This time, Seven Tiger's news was quickly discovered by the media and spread throughout the country in a very short time.

When the news was released, some television stations that were broadcasting live news also urgently interrupted to insert this latest news. This news was also posted on foreign social networking sites in the shortest possible time.

The entire online world was in an uproar.

This 'Eternal Heart' ransomware incident was almost the biggest kidnapping incident in the online world. Globally, nearly a million computers were infected with the virus. They were mainly concentrated in important areas such as government departments, energy companies, railway companies, banks, hospitals, universities, and trading venues.

The incident has been going on for almost seven days. Unless the system is reinstalled, it is impossible to get rid of 'Eternal Heart'. But reinstalling the system means that all data in the computer will be lost, which is unacceptable to some people.

The news released by Seven Tiger was undoubtedly a shot in the arm. Those who were preparing to pay the ransom to the hackers stopped their actions one after another, waiting for Seven Tiger Company to release the antivirus program.

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