What Are They Babbling About?

The taxi sped along the Inner Ring Elevated Road.

Han Luyi stared out the window. Lu Mingzhou sat beside him with a laptop open across his knees, its screen filled with densely packed spreadsheets.

"The other party is Lin Zheng, a partner at Qihe Ventures," Lu Mingzhou said. "Qihe Ventures is an early-stage fund. It isn't large, with assets in the low billions. Lin Zheng has led three successful exits."

He paused. "Small funds invest early. Three exits count as a solid track record, which means he has both a good eye and good luck."

Han Luyi gave an "Mm." His mind was still on the next version's iteration.

"Let's run through a simulation first." Lu Mingzhou interrupted Han Luyi's thoughts. "If he asks what advantages you have over CodeSafe, how would you answer?"

Han Luyi thought for a moment. "We perform deep static analysis based on abstract syntax trees, allowing us to identify hidden Bugs at the semantic level. CodeSafe relies entirely on large models, which have a high false-positive rate in large codebases."

"Stop." Lu Mingzhou waved a hand. "He won't understand 'abstract syntax trees,' and he can't be bothered to know what 'semantic level' means."

"Then what should I say?"

"You should say, 'We have a technological moat. CodeSafe is just superficial work.' Then add, 'Our accuracy rate is three times the industry average, and our user retention rate proves it.'"

Han Luyi frowned. "Isn't he an investor in the tech sector?"

"Investors are used to translated language." Lu Mingzhou tapped the laptop with a finger. "What they listen for are signals. 'Abstract syntax trees' are noise. 'Technological moat' is the signal."

"And then? The second question?"

"CodeSafe is now pre-installed ahead of you on Dingsheng Cloud. How do you plan to respond?"

Han Luyi recalled what Su Niannian had said. "We're going to build a developer community. Community stickiness will be our moat."

Lu Mingzhou nodded. "That works, but it needs more punch. Add this: 'Community is data, data is models. In the future, we can train dedicated vertical large models.'"

"What?"

"That's the hot trend right now." Lu Mingzhou smiled. "The moment you mention 'large models,' his ears will perk up."

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

"It's fine if you plan to use them in the future." Lu Mingzhou said. "That's what the industry is focused on right now."

"Isn't that lying?"

"How can investment be called lying?" After a pause, he added, "Besides, are you really not planning to use them?"

"We'll talk about it when the time comes."

Seeing that Han Luyi was not very interested, Lu Mingzhou closed the laptop and added, "Mr. Han, this may be a little presumptuous, but VCs will ask this too—"

"Are you and Ms. Su in a romantic relationship?"

Han Luyi frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Lu Mingzhou said, adjusting his glasses, "he'll assess whether the company has structural risks. If the partners are a couple, a breakup means the management team splits apart. Investors fear that most."

"No," Han Luyi said.

"And that won't change anytime soon?" Lu Mingzhou pressed.

Han Luyi looked out the window.

"It won't."

"Then we'll keep our story consistent: you're business partners and have no personal relationship."

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

"This is my first time in a setting like this." Han Luyi stood before the revolving doors.

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

Long Bar was on the first floor of The PuLi Hotel. Its thirty-two-meter bar ran through the entire lobby, with morning light spilling in through the floor-to-ceiling windows along one side.

Han Luyi and Lu Mingzhou waited for twenty minutes.

Lu Mingzhou sent several WeChat messages. His assistant replied, "Mr. Lin is handling the previous case. Please wait a moment."

When Lin Zheng appeared, he was wearing a polo shirt and athletic slacks, looking as though he had just finished a round of golf. A young woman followed behind 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 several sheets from the folder and handed them over. Lin Zheng took them, lowered his head to scan them twice, then looked up at Han Luyi. "What school did you graduate from, Mr. Han?"

Han Luyi froze for a moment. "Shanghai Jiao Tong University."

"Not bad." Lin Zheng nodded, jotting something down in his notebook. "How many years have you worked?"

"Five."

"All at Dingsheng?" Lin Zheng smiled. "I read the materials. The way you left Dingsheng... how will you address the industry reputation risk that creates for a startup?"

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

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

"Fine, 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 DAUs for a developer tool? It isn't inherently a high-frequency scenario. We have twenty thousand monthly active users."

Lin Zheng ignored him. "What's the conversion rate?"

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

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

He looked at Lu Mingzhou. "Frank, you dare bring numbers like this to meet investors?"

Lu Mingzhou's expression did not change. "Early-stage products should be judged by their growth rate—"

"Growth rate?" Lin Zheng cut him off. "You've heard about Dingsheng Cloud, right? Would your numbers even be enough to fill their teeth?"

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

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

Then he began speaking in jargon.

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

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

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

He opened Sight.

[Core assessment: small utility-type project, crowded market, low ceiling]

Han Luyi stood up and interrupted their encrypted exchange. "Let's call it here for today."

All three of them looked at him in surprise.

"There's nothing to discuss right now." Han Luyi's face was expressionless. "We'll talk again once we've made some progress."

With that, he left without waiting for anyone to respond.

Lu Mingzhou nodded to Lin Zheng. "Mr. Lin, sorry about that. We'll be in touch." Then he hurried after Han Luyi.

Neither of them spoke until they got into the taxi.

The driver was listening to a traffic broadcast, and the host was reporting the weather. Rain had begun to fall outside, droplets slanting across the glass.

Han Luyi broke the silence. "Old Lu, I know you're eager to prove your worth. Now that you're handling management and finances every day, you might feel like your talents are being wasted."

"Mr. Han, I'm not—"

Han Luyi raised a hand. "Let me finish. We're not under that much financial pressure right now, and we don't need to chase a high valuation."

Han Luyi looked Lu Mingzhou in the eyes. "If you have doubts, I can make the call and buy back your shares at a fifty-million valuation."

"Mr. Han, I have faith in Source Code Technology," Lu Mingzhou said. "And I have faith in you. I understand what you mean."

"Don't worry. We'll take Source Code public, and there'll be plenty of room for you to shine," Han Luyi said.

The driver glanced at them through the rearview mirror. He was not surprised. In a place like Haicheng, entrepreneurs like this were everywhere.

"To be honest, I didn't expect it either." Lu Mingzhou sighed. "Back when I worked as an FA, Lin Zheng was quite polite. Different position now, huh?"

"He isn't interested in us."

"Mr. Han, I could tell," Lu Mingzhou said. "But you could've at least let me finish."

"It's not a good deal if we have to throw ourselves at them. There was no need."

"There was." Lu Mingzhou turned to look at him. "Fundraising isn't about just this one firm. It's a small circle. If you walk out after giving him the cold shoulder today, the entire Pudong investment circle will know you're 'hard to deal with' tomorrow."

"It doesn't matter if I'm hard to deal with. As long as the numbers are good, they'll come looking for us."

The taxi turned onto the elevated highway, its wipers swaying rhythmically.

The rain grew heavier.