Origin Company Is Going Under?

Looking at Karina crying bitterly in front of him, Chu Feng felt somewhat awkward instead.

"Alright, stop crying..."

The moment Chu Feng finished speaking, the crying only grew louder. Karina had always had everything go her way since childhood. Everyone had doted on her, and her parents and superiors had trusted her. She had never expected to stumble over such a minor mission and get herself caught up in it as well. Thinking about how she would become like a walking corpse from now on, freely manipulated by that demon Chu Feng, she grew more miserable the more she thought about it. She had already embarrassed herself anyway, so she no longer cared.

Watching Karina go on and on, Chu Feng got annoyed too. You were the one who came looking for trouble with me, alright? You're acting like I did something to you.

"Enough, shut up!" His shout scared the sobbing Karina into immediately falling silent. She did not want to experience that feeling worse than death again.

"Honestly, you wouldn't listen when I tried talking nicely. You had to force me to lose my temper." Looking at Karina's pitiful face, covered in tears and snot, he could not help finding it amusing again.

"Alright, you can go. Remember, you can't breathe a word about what happened here. Otherwise..."

Watching Karina stagger out in a daze, Chu Feng curled his lips speechlessly and got ready to head back as well.

Karina did not even know how she had gotten out. Like a robot, she returned to the embassy on instinct.

Soon, the phone rang. Karina blankly listened to it ring without stopping, only picking it up when it rang for the third time.

"Hello? Karina, why did you take so long to answer? How did the investigation go?" A deep male voice came through the phone. It was her superior, the director she had once greatly admired—Norbert Braining, then the CIA director for North Africa.

"I..." Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly realized that she no longer had control over herself. Her mouth filled with bitterness, and she froze.

"It's nothing, Director. I investigated him. He's just an ordinary Chinese man who's gone crazy trying to get rich," Karina said against her will.

"Oh, that's good. China has been making frequent moves lately, and that Chu Feng is far too suspicious. We need to keep a close eye on him at all times. You should be careful in Somalia too. That place is too important to our position."

Words that would once have warmed her heart now made Karina feel chilled to the bone.

She could not help thinking of that man who was like a demon.

Karina had not lied about Chu Feng. The computer really was filled with information on him.

But it was not the kind collected by a fan. When the investigators had delivered Chu Feng's file, Karina had nearly thrown it in their faces.

This was supposed to be an investigation report? Were they testing her patience or insulting her intelligence?

The file meticulously recorded Chu Feng's life from childhood to adulthood, and it could be summed up in just two words: "ordinary."

He was far too ordinary, far too normal. It looked like the résumé of a perfectly average Chinese person—he could not even be considered elite. Then she saw the occupation listed on it: "Sailor?"

Are you kidding me?

So this truly "fake résumé" had been discarded.

Unaware of Karina's thoughts, Chu Feng had already boarded the spaceship home.

At dawn, he arrived in Hailing and quietly returned home under cover of darkness.

After resting on the way, Chu Feng arrived at the company early the next morning.

The moment he entered his office, he saw Lin Lin's resentful expression.

He chuckled awkwardly, greeted Lin Lin somewhat sheepishly, and sat down on the sofa.

"Have you eaten breakfast? Want some?" Chu Feng asked awkwardly.

Seeing that Lin Lin still said nothing, Chu Feng could only give a bitter smile. "Sorry, this time it was my fault. I'll definitely report in beforehand next time, alright?"

Lin Lin sighed after hearing him say that. Looking at Chu Feng, she said, "I know you hate having people follow you. You have secrets you don't want others to know, and we can all understand that, but..."

Lin Lin did not spell out the rest, but Chu Feng could guess it.

They both understood without needing to say it aloud.

"Actually, I've been handling some matters these past two days too. But there's something you can report: this week, a ten-thousand-ton container ship will arrive in Hailing from Somalia. It'll be carrying important overseas research equipment, along with research personnel."

The moment Lin Lin heard Chu Feng's words, she wanted to go report it immediately, but she stiffly turned back around.

"Alright, go on. I know, I know. And I promise I won't disappear again, okay?" Chu Feng shook his head helplessly.

Lin Lin gave Chu Feng a deep look before turning and leaving.

He had the secretary call Zheng Yun in.

Before long, Zheng Yun arrived. In just two days, he seemed to have aged several years, startling Chu Feng and making him feel somewhat guilty.

"Chairman, you wanted to see me?" Zheng Yun's hoarse voice made Chu Feng even more concerned about his health.

"Old Zheng, are you alright? You look terrible. Why not go home and rest for a couple of days?" Chu Feng asked with concern.

"I'm fine. I know my own body. But the company..."

Zheng Yun's brow was so furrowed it seemed as though water could be squeezed from it. In the two days since the news had been released, they had needed to stabilize the company's employees. After all, the company had not been established for long, and everyone's sense of belonging was not yet that strong. On top of that, they had to discuss a response.

But meetings were held every day, and everyone realized that the situation seemed completely unsolvable.

Software relied on platforms. Now that the table itself had been overturned, how were they supposed to operate?

Besides, even if they truly handed over the source code, would that really solve anything?

Please. No one was three years old. Everyone understood the intent behind it better than anyone. If Xiaoke were handed over today, all sorts of Little Whites and Little Whatevers would appear before tomorrow.

Although the company appeared to have no shortage of funds, it was still frail compared to those major giants. Xiaoke had become so popular only because it was exclusive. Otherwise, how could a small company with no foundation and no connections possibly claim a share of the Internet's enormous cake?

From every angle, Lightyear Company really was going under... or rather, it was not far from going under...

"Old Zheng, don't worry. I already had a solution. I went out these past two days precisely to find a way to solve the problem."

"What? What method?" Zheng Yun asked, both excited and puzzled.

"Since they won't let us use their platform, can't we design our own? They won't let us use their phones? Then we'll make our own."

Chu Feng said it as if it were nothing.

Hearing Chu Feng's answer, Zheng Yun almost wanted to cry. A newborn calf truly feared no tiger.

Back in November 1983, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, Microsoft announced its next-generation operating system, Microsoft Windows. The operating system would provide IBM computers with a graphical user interface and multitasking capabilities.

And now, in 2015, Microsoft had officially released Windows 10.

Basically, the PC market belonged to Microsoft.

Why? Because everyone had long since grown accustomed to Microsoft's designs. Its graphical interface was familiar to people, its reputation was widespread, and most software online only supported Windows. This caused other operating systems to be overlooked due to their lack of software support, making Windows even more widely used. In turn, more software supported it. Within this cycle, Windows became increasingly popular, and piracy made it even more widespread. But most importantly, it was easy to use and designed with people in mind. The help manuals that came with the system were basically all in Chinese. From this tiny detail alone, one could see the fundamental reason for its popularity.

As for phones, they were basically dominated by Android and iOS.

It wasn't that domestic phone manufacturers didn't want to create their own operating systems. Industry veterans like Samsung had launched Limo and Bada, but what had the results been? Lots of noise, little action. No one was willing to join Samsung's ecosystem, and Samsung had no choice but to give up. Then there was Nokia, which had already faded away. It had once tried launching Maemo, expecting a decent market response, but in the end, no one used it at all. Even long-established giants were helpless in the face of this. How could some up-and-coming domestic phone makers change the landscape? Their technology already lagged behind others', and developing their own operating systems would be no different from taking on a losing business. Microsoft's Windows Mobile and Symbian both required licensing fees. They couldn't afford the system copyrights, so they could only use the free, open-source Android system or make some optimizations based on Android.

So, making their own system was basically a dead end.

Was Origin Company really finished?

I'll post one chapter first. There'll be another one later.