Tai Chi

Han Luyi woke up before seven.

Sight opened, and his energy panel hovered at the edge of his consciousness.

After leveling up, his recovery speed had improved considerably. One full night of sleep had filled it completely.

He focused on the issue from last night—the one where he had run out of steam. Step 4: channel breakthrough. Targeted compilation.

The thought took shape. The new partition deep in his brain began to heat up.

[Path Compilation · Targeted · Initiated]

[Target: BugKiller channel breakthrough: exclusivity vs. multicloud neutrality]

[Compiling...]

It took longer than last night's global compilation. Five seconds. Ten seconds. The data structures on the panel settled into place piece by piece, like a puzzle.

[Path Compilation · Targeted · Complete]

[Path A: Exclusive Binding (Single Cloud Platform)]

[Long-Term Survival Rate: 34% (-)]

[Risk: Channel dependency → loss of pricing power → no way out when platform policies change]

[Path B: Multicloud Neutrality (Non-Exclusive · Simultaneous Presence on Multiple Platforms)]

[Long-Term Survival Rate: 78% (↑↑)]

[Optimal Execution Sequence: Second-tier cloud (letter of intent) → first-tier cloud (leverage) → close the net from the other side]

[Success Rate of Reverse Sequence Execution (first-tier cloud first): 23%]

[Key Leverage: VC proactive contact rate before multicloud partnerships: 12% → after partnerships: 67%]

[Energy Consumption: 183]

The lower-right corner flickered.

He wrote "34" and "78" in his notes, then closed the notebook.

A little after nine, the doorbell rang.

Han Luyi's hair was still a mess when he opened the door for her. She held two cups of coffee and paused at the entrance for a second.

"Didn't sleep well last night?"

"I stayed up a little late thinking."

Han Luyi took the coffee. An iced Americano.

"You have a new idea?"

"About channels."

Su Niannian pulled over a chair and sat down.

"You wrote in your plan that you wanted to get onto cloud marketplaces," Han Luyi said. "Which one were you planning to approach?"

"Qingyue Cloud or Tianshu Cloud, probably. They have good reputations and low barriers to entry. We could talk to Kunlun Cloud too, but their terms definitely won't be easy to negotiate."

"What if they demand an exclusive agreement?"

Su Niannian thought for a moment. "If the terms are good enough, exclusivity isn't impossible to accept."

"We can't accept it."

"...What exactly did you think of yesterday?"

Han Luyi did not answer right away.

He took a sip of coffee and set the cup down.

"Signing exclusivity is a dead end. At best, we'll end up like Zhao Wenyuan."

Su Niannian looked at him.

"I spent the whole night thinking it through and doing the math," Han Luyi said. "Dingsheng Cloud tying CodeSafe to its own cloud looks like an advantage. They have 150,000 enterprise customers who can access it at zero cost. Their channel crushes ours.

"But looking at it the other way, that means CodeSafe can only be used on Dingsheng Cloud.

"Right now, there are only two proven AI code review products on the entire market. One is locked to Dingsheng, and the other is us. For developers on Qingyue Cloud, Tianshu Cloud, Kunlun Cloud, and those other platforms, how many choices do they have if they want AI code review?"

Su Niannian froze.

"One."

"Dingsheng has educated the market for us."

Su Niannian set her coffee down and leaned forward.

"So instead of us needing the cloud platforms, the cloud platforms need us."

"The tighter Dingsheng binds CodeSafe, the fewer alternatives the other clouds have. The greater its channel advantage becomes, the scarcer we become to every cloud competing with it."

"Tai Chi," Han Luyi said. "The harder it pushes, the more it pushes us into the arms of every one of its rivals."

Su Niannian stood up, paced around the room twice, then came back.

"How exactly do we do this?"

"We start with the second-tier players. Qingyue or Tianshu, whichever we contact first is fine. Get a letter of intent, then take it to Kunlun. Kunlun is Dingsheng's biggest cloud rival. If it sees second-tier clouds bringing in BugKiller, it'll get nervous. Dingsheng has CodeSafe, Qingyue and Tianshu have BugKiller—what does Kunlun have? That signal can pry Kunlun loose."

"What if Kunlun signs?"

"Then Qingyue and Tianshu will be even less willing to fall behind. We'll sign all three."

"What terms?"

"Revenue sharing, channel recommendations, homepage traffic. We can negotiate the details later."

Su Niannian frowned. "This plan sounds like walking a tightrope."

Han Luyi smiled. "That's exactly what it is."

"I'm worried about two things." Su Niannian raised two fingers. "First, will Qingyue and Tianshu even give us letters of intent? And even if they do, will they use us as a weapon against Dingsheng, then turn around and demand exclusivity too?"

Han Luyi pressed one of her fingers back down. "First, let's talk about the first issue. What they're afraid of is having 'no users.' What they need most is a star tool that can keep developers on their platforms. Dingsheng has already educated the market for them. If they don't take us, we'll go to someone else."

"And how do we make sure we don't get used as a weapon?"

"That's why all three have to be finalized at the same time," Han Luyi said. "We're not begging Kunlun. We're making Kunlun realize that if it moves any slower, it really will have nothing. Once it sits at the table, it won't let the game turn into 'bind exclusively to us.' That would be handing Dingsheng a free kill."

"What if they develop their own?"

"From project approval to launch, it'll take at least half a year. With Dingsheng's current marketing momentum, in-house development will be too late."

Su Niannian looked at him. "Are you sure they'll follow your logic?"

"I'm not sure," Han Luyi said. "But I am sure that if we sign exclusivity, we'll be following theirs."

Su Niannian sat down, opened her laptop, and began typing.

"Channel outreach." Su Niannian did not look up. "Do you have any connections? I have a few former colleagues, but none of them are in relevant positions."

"No need to go through intermediaries," Han Luyi said. "I have direct contacts at Zhongdun—the salespeople and project managers. Weak ties are actually more useful. They aren't picking sides inside the cloud companies. They only care about closing deals."

"Fine." Su Niannian tapped the keyboard twice. "Then we'll open things up through Zhongdun."

"What are our negotiating floors? How much revenue share do we want? What about minimum guarantees?"

"We need to calculate that. It depends on each cloud's developer base and how many existing customers we already have on their platforms." Han Luyi thought for a moment. "I'll leave that to you. Honestly, I'm not very good at pricing."

Su Niannian stopped and glanced at him. "You sound less and less like a programmer these days."

Han Luyi looked at the ceiling. "Just being a programmer isn't enough anymore."

"I've drafted the framework." Su Niannian turned the screen toward him.

There were four pages: an execution timeline, outreach priorities, negotiation milestones, and a draft revenue-sharing model. Han Luyi read it from beginning to end.

"There's one more thing." Su Niannian scrolled to the final page. The title was bolded: Brand Upgrade.

"If we're going onto cloud marketplaces, we need a proper brand. In enterprise clients' eyes, BugKiller is just a GitHub link and a website with default colors. We're talking to cloud platforms and meeting investors, yet we don't even have a proper logo."

Han Luyi said nothing.

His gaze shifted to the side of the monitor.

Two paintings were pinned side by side on the wall. On the left was Duoduo's crayon drawing: crooked stick figures beside a huge red ladybug crouching on the ground, taller than the people. On the right was Lin Wanqing's fabric-framed painting: a tiny seven-spotted ladybug perched on a rust-stained doorknob, its wings slightly spread.

Ladybug.

"I know who to ask."

Su Niannian followed his gaze and saw the two paintings.

"The artist next door?"

"She's a freelance illustrator. We'll do this as a formal commercial commission—brand visual design, paid at market rates."

"Are you sure? Brand design isn't quite the same as illustration. We could hire a professional design firm."

"She is a professional."

Before leaving, Su Niannian sent the final execution plan to the Lark group. Han Luyi read it and gave it a thumbs-up.

Han Luyi opened WeChat and found Zhou Yan's chat window.

They had only signed the audit contract yesterday, and today he was already asking for resources. The timing was a little fast. But the earlier they made contact with channels, the better, even if it was just to test the waters.

"Mr. Zhou, I'd like to ask something. Among Zhongdun's security audit clients, do you have any cloud platforms? We'd like to discuss joining cloud marketplaces later on."

Two minutes later, Zhou Yan sent a voice message. Han Luyi played it once.

The gist was that they did. Qingyue Cloud and Tianshu Cloud were both clients. But Mr. Han, directly approaching them at this point probably wouldn't work. They would want to see qualifications. Once your audit report is ready, I'll introduce you. Bringing the report to negotiations will be much better than showing up empty-handed.

"Understood. Please push the audit forward as quickly as possible. Once the report is out, I'll contact you immediately."

Zhou Yan replied, "Don't worry. About two and a half weeks. I'll arrange a meeting for you then."

Han Luyi exited the chat.

Two and a half weeks. Only after the audit was completed would they be qualified to sit at the table. Path Compilation had given him a direction, but the pieces still had to be placed one step at a time.

His phone rang. It was Zhang Haoran.

Han Luyi answered.

"Old Han, busy?"

"Not really. What's up?"

"There's someone you should meet." Zhang Haoran lowered his voice slightly, as though he were sneaking a call from the office. "His name is Lu Mingzhou. He's an FA, a senior manager at Huachou Capital."

"FA?"

"Financial Advisor. He helps startups raise money. This guy has quite the background. He graduated from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, worked three years in audit at Deloitte, got his CPA, then jumped to investment banking before switching to FA. He's looked at hundreds of early-stage projects. I met him playing basketball before, and we've grabbed meals now and then. I casually mentioned your company over lunch today, and he questioned me for twenty minutes on the spot."

"What did he ask?"

"Product technical route, business model, current stage. I told him I didn't understand any of that and that he should talk to you directly." Zhang Haoran paused. "He said he's free this weekend and wants to chat first. Not a formal pitch, just coffee."

"Fine. Send him my WeChat."

"Already did," Zhang Haoran said. "Oh, and this guy talks pretty bluntly. Don't take it personally."

After hanging up, Han Luyi checked WeChat. There was already a friend request. The profile picture was a photo of a stock exchange. The nickname was simply his real name: "Lu Mingzhou Frank." His status read: "Numbers don't lie."

He accepted the request.