What were they even babbling about?

The taxi sped along the Inner Ring Elevated Road.

Han Luyi stared out the window. Beside him, Lu Mingzhou had a laptop spread open on his knees, its screen crammed with tables.

"We're meeting Lin Zheng, a partner at Qihe Ventures," Lu Mingzhou said. "They're an early-stage fund, not especially large—somewhere over a billion yuan. Lin Zheng has led three successful exits."

He paused. "For a small fund investing early, three exits is a pretty solid track record. It means he has both a good eye and good luck."

Han Luyi grunted in acknowledgment, his mind still on the next release.

"Let's do a practice run." Lu Mingzhou interrupted his thoughts. "If he asks what advantages we have over CodeSafe, how would you answer?"

Han Luyi considered it. "We use abstract syntax trees for deep static analysis, which lets us identify hidden bugs at the code's semantic level. CodeSafe relies entirely on a large model, so it has a high false-positive rate with large codebases."

"Stop." Lu Mingzhou waved a hand. "He won't understand 'abstract syntax trees,' and he won't care what 'the semantic level' means."

"Then what should I say?"

"Say, 'We have a technological moat. CodeSafe only scratches the surface.' Then add, 'Our accuracy is three times the industry average, and our user retention backs that up.'"

Han Luyi frowned. "Doesn't he invest in tech?"

"Investors are used to language that's been translated for them." Lu Mingzhou tapped his laptop. "They listen for signals. 'Abstract syntax trees' is noise. 'Technological moat' is a signal."

"All right. Second question?"

"Now that CodeSafe comes bundled with Dingsheng Cloud, how do you plan to respond?"

Han Luyi recalled Su Niannian's words. "We're building a developer community. Community stickiness will be our moat."

Lu Mingzhou nodded. "That works, but it needs more punch. Add this: 'Community means data, and data means models. In the future, we can train a proprietary, domain-specific large model.'"

"What?"

"That's where the momentum is right now." Lu Mingzhou smiled. "Mention 'large models,' and his ears will perk right up."

Han Luyi fell silent for two seconds. "We don't use a large model."

"Planning to use one later works too," Lu Mingzhou said. "That's the hot topic in the industry right now."

"Isn't that lying?"

"How can you call it lying when it's about investment?" He paused, then added, "Besides, are you really ruling it out?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Seeing Han Luyi's lack of enthusiasm, Lu Mingzhou closed his laptop. "Boss Han, this might be a little presumptuous, but a VC will ask you this too—"

"Are you and Ms. Su dating?"

Han Luyi frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Lu Mingzhou said, adjusting his glasses, "he'll assess whether the company has any structural risks. If the cofounders are a couple, a breakup means a split in management. That's an investor's worst nightmare."

"No," Han Luyi said.

"And you won't be anytime soon?" Lu Mingzhou pressed.

Han Luyi looked out the window.

"No."

"Then let's keep our story straight: you're business partners, with no personal relationship."

The taxi headed west along Yan'an Road, passed Jing'an Temple, and stopped outside Ocean Plaza. The entrance to The PuLi Hotel was tucked behind a bamboo grove. A doorman in a Mandarin-collar uniform came over to open the door.

"This is a first for me," Han Luyi said, standing before the revolving doors.

"You'll get used to it," Lu Mingzhou said. "Don't worry. I've got your back."

Long Bar was on the ground floor of The PuLi Hotel, its thirty-two-meter counter stretching across the lobby. Morning sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows on one side.

Han Luyi and Lu Mingzhou waited for twenty minutes.

Lu Mingzhou sent several WeChat messages. An assistant replied, "Mr. Lin is wrapping up his previous meeting. Please wait a little longer."

Lin Zheng arrived in a polo shirt and athletic slacks, looking as though he had just finished a round of golf. A young woman followed him, holding a folder.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm late." Lin Zheng sat down. "Source Code Technology, right? BugKiller. I've heard of it."

The young woman pulled a few sheets from the folder and handed them over. Lin Zheng took them, glanced down, then looked up at Han Luyi. "Where did you graduate from, Mr. Han?"

Han Luyi blinked. "Jiaotong University."

"Not bad." Lin Zheng nodded and jotted something in his notebook. "How many years have you worked?"

"Five."

"All at Dingsheng?" Lin Zheng smiled. "Looking at your materials, the way you left Dingsheng... how do you plan to address the reputational risk that poses for a startup?"

Lu Mingzhou was about to speak, but Lin Zheng raised a hand to stop him. "I'd like to hear Mr. Han's thoughts first."

Han Luyi looked at him. "What exactly do you mean, Mr. Lin?"

"All right, another question." Lin Zheng leaned back on the sofa. "How many daily active users does your product have?"

"Eight thousand." Han Luyi countered, "What's the point of asking about daily actives for a developer tool? It's not a high-frequency use case. We have twenty thousand monthly active users."

Lin Zheng ignored that. "What's your paid conversion rate?"

Lu Mingzhou quickly answered, "One point four percent."

Lin Zheng chuckled. "So, out of twenty thousand users, only two hundred pay?"

He turned to Lu Mingzhou. "Frank, you actually dared bring numbers like these to an investor meeting?"

Lu Mingzhou's expression didn't change. "With an early-stage product, you look at growth..."

"Growth?" Lin Zheng cut him off. "You've heard about Dingsheng Cloud, haven't you? You'd barely count as a snack for them."

"Raising money under these circumstances..." Lin Zheng shook his head. "Honestly, I'm not optimistic."

Lu Mingzhou spoke up. "Mr. Lin, let me add some context about our growth curve—"

Then he started speaking in jargon.

Month-over-month growth, retention, CAC, LTV, the slope of ARR growth.

Lin Zheng and Lu Mingzhou went back and forth, talking faster and faster.

Han Luyi's head buzzed. It felt like he was listening in on an encrypted call. What were they even babbling about?

He activated Sight.

A pale blue interface unfolded, locking onto Lin Zheng.

[Core assessment: small utility product, crowded market, low ceiling]

Han Luyi stood, cutting off their encrypted exchange. "Let's leave it here for today."

The other three stared at him in surprise.

"There isn't much to discuss right now." Han Luyi's face was expressionless. "We can talk again once we've made some tangible progress."

With that, he left without waiting for a response.

Lu Mingzhou nodded to Lin Zheng. "Sorry about this, Mr. Lin. We'll be in touch." Then he hurried after him.

Neither spoke until they were in a taxi.

The driver was listening to a traffic station, where the host was giving the weather report. Rain began to fall outside, spattering diagonally across the windows.

Han Luyi broke the silence. "Mingzhou, I know you're eager to prove your worth. Handling management and finances every day probably feels like a waste of your talents."

"Boss Han, I'm not..." Lu Mingzhou began.

Han Luyi raised a hand. "Let me finish. We're not under that much financial pressure right now, and we're in no rush to chase a high valuation."

Han Luyi met Lu Mingzhou's eyes. "If you're having doubts, I can authorize a buyback of your shares at a fifty-million-yuan valuation."

"Boss Han, I have faith in Source Code Technology," Lu Mingzhou said. "And in you. I understand what you're saying."

"Don't worry. We'll take Source Code public. You'll have a chance to show what you can do," Han Luyi said.

The driver glanced at them in the rearview mirror, unsurprised. In a place like Haicheng, entrepreneurs like these were everywhere.

"Honestly, I didn't expect that either." Lu Mingzhou sighed. "Lin Zheng was pretty polite back when I worked as a financial adviser. I guess it's different when you're on the other side of the table."

"He wasn't interested in us."

"Boss Han, I could see that," Lu Mingzhou said. "But you could've at least let me finish."

"There's no point chasing someone who doesn't want you. Nothing good comes of it."

"There is a point." Lu Mingzhou turned toward him. "He's not the only investor we'll approach. It's a small circle. Walk out in a huff today, and tomorrow every investor in Pudong will know you're 'difficult.'"

"It doesn't matter if I'm difficult. As long as our numbers are good, they'll come to us."

The taxi turned onto the elevated road, its wipers sweeping rhythmically.

The rain grew heavier.