Who would still start a business seriously after being reborn?

Chapter 698 The pain of skin cutting
As dawn broke, Chen Yongzheng arrived at the Jingzhou Police Association by car.

He got out of the car, straightened his suit, and tried his best to maintain his last shred of dignity.

In the interrogation room, facing an experienced police officer, Chen Yongzheng began to recite his confession.

His tone was calm, but his eyes were somewhat vacant, as if he were telling someone else's story.

This time, he didn't even bring a lawyer.

Because he came to receive his sins, not to be absolved of them.

He needs to find ways to prove that he had a motive to harm Lin Sipeng, rather than denying his motive.

This kind of thing is truly despairing.

"I have some personal grudges with Lin Sipeng..." He downplayed the issue and recited the words he had carefully considered at home. As a programmer, he was very rigorous in his logic.

Even experienced police officers couldn't find any evidence to refute his words.

For more than a year, Lin Sipeng did indeed do whatever he wanted, relying on his relationship with Cheng Yi.

Chen Yongzheng's approach was very simple and effective: the revenge for the stolen love.

He said he had fallen for a car model and was about to confess his feelings when Lin Sipeng beat him to it. What angered him most was that Lin Sipeng dumped the car model after he got her.

This left Chen Yongzheng feeling deeply resentful...

"Don't you have a family?" The officer finally found a small opening.

"Who says you can't fall in love if you're married?" Chen Yongzheng retorted. "Haven't you ever met a girl who made your heart flutter?"

The officer blushed and snapped, "Now it's my turn to question you!"

Chen Yongzheng said, "I'm sorry, but all I can say about your question is that the more tired a person is, the more they want to be in a relationship."

"Dating and marriage are two different things. I love my wife very much, but I also really enjoy the feeling of being in love," Chen Yongzheng replied shamelessly.

"???" The police officer was completely dumbfounded.

Since they've already said all that, what else can he say besides offering his blessings?
"How did you get in touch with an international assassin like Ona?" The officer stared at him with sharp eyes.

“It cost some money through some underground networks,” Chen Yongzheng said vaguely. “But I only asked him to scare Lin Sipeng and collect some dirt on him. I didn’t ask him to kidnap anyone or kill anyone. I didn’t expect things to turn out like this, and I didn’t expect Ona to die.”

"What about the financial transactions? What were the specific instructions?"

"It was all cash transactions, and the instructions were given verbally, so I don't remember them very well," Chen Yongzheng mechanically repeated his flimsy and unsubstantiated statement.

"Who did you contact? What country are they from? What's their name?" the officer asked again.

Chen Yongzheng shook his head, closed his eyes, and leaned back in his chair, refusing to answer the question.

Anyway, he came to confess, so he can answer what he wants to answer, or he doesn't have to answer what he doesn't want to answer.

Because from the moment he walked in, he never thought he could leave right away.

The interrogation lasted for several hours. No matter how the police pressed for details, Chen Yongzheng steadfastly maintained that his actions were personal, that he lost control of his emotions, and that his initial intention was to issue a warning.

He knew his story was untenable, but his goal wasn't to convince the police; it was to complete the task Waters had given him.

Provide a publicly available explanation, and identify a responsible party to extricate Microsoft from this situation as quickly as possible.

There was almost no room for maneuver in this matter. Ona called out his name in front of the body camera. Unless Ona was alive, he could clear his name, but Ona was dead.

This death, that's how his life was defined.

Chen Yongzheng even strongly suspected that Ona's death was suspicious.

When he pressed his fingerprint on the statement, he knew that his career as president of Microsoft China and his likely long period of freedom were over.

The only thing that sustained him was Waters's promise about family and money.

On the same day, news of Chen Yongzheng's surrender reached Momo Group.

In the command center of the Momo Technology Park in Jingzhou, Cheng Yi sat in the center, while Zhao Gang led the media team and the core members of the public relations department gathered together.

"The news has been confirmed. Chen Yongzheng has surrendered and admitted that he personally instructed Ona." Zhao Gang said quickly, "Waters is really ruthless. He actually chose to abandon Chen Yongzheng. What a determination that takes."

Cheng Yi nodded slowly.

He imitated Chen Yongzheng simply to drag someone down with him. After all, if Microsoft really wanted to clear its name, it wouldn't be difficult to put forward a scapegoat.

Since he had anticipated that the other side would put forward a scapegoat, he naturally chose the fattest one.

He had considered choosing Waters, but firstly, he had been fighting with Waters for a long time and had gotten used to Waters's methods.

Secondly, getting rid of Waters is too difficult.

Although he didn't want to admit it, he had to admit that it was about as difficult as dealing with Du Yusheng in Beijing.

This is no longer just a case issue; it involves something much deeper.

Chen Yongzheng was different; he went in and confessed, and everyone was happy.

Most importantly, after this battle, Waters should no longer dare to consider such methods.

Cheng Yi said, "Don't let your guard down. Waters definitely has a backup plan. Zhao Gang, you act immediately, in three steps. First, guide the mainstream media to focus on the explosive fact that the president of Microsoft China hired someone, emphasizing its egregious nature and damage to the business environment. Second, use our online army and public relations team to dig deep into the 'sacrifice the pawn to save the king' argument on forums and social media, directing the fire towards Waters' Asian headquarters. Third, prepare the dirt we have on Microsoft's unfair competition in other areas, and release it at the appropriate time to expand our gains."

"Understood!" Zhao Gang accepted the order and immediately began making arrangements.

A few days later, a meticulously planned media offensive was launched.

The headlines of major portal websites were dominated by the news that "Microsoft China President Arrested for Allegedly Hiring Assassins," and the Toutiao platform also began to push related reports and comments simultaneously.

On platforms such as Weibo, Tianya, and Tieba, topics such as #Microsoft's Mafia-Style Competition#, #Waters Get Out of China#, and #Feeling Sorry for Cheng Yi and Momo Group# quickly became trending topics.

Numerous "insiders" began revealing Microsoft's past bullying practices, and comedians sprang into action, turning Ona's Thomas Flair and Chen Yongzheng's personal behavior into various satirical jokes. Public sentiment was quickly ignited, with voices of sympathy for Momo and condemnation of Microsoft forming an overwhelming tide.

Meanwhile, in Microsoft's Beijing office, Waters' public relations team was also actively dealing with the matter.

"Issue an official statement immediately," Waters ordered. "The core points are fourfold: First, express extreme shock and regret over Mr. Chen Yongzheng's personal actions; second, emphasize that Microsoft has always adhered to the highest business ethics and legal standards; third, declare that this matter is purely Mr. Chen Yongzheng's personal behavior and has nothing to do with Microsoft; and fourth, express that Microsoft will actively cooperate with the investigation and conduct a comprehensive review of the management processes in the China region."

"Yes!"

The statement was issued, but it had little effect.

Faced with the overwhelming public opinion guided by Momo Group, this statement of disassociation appeared weak and powerless, and was even ridiculed as a standard template for shifting blame.

Left with no other option, Microsoft had to contact its media partners and some public intellectuals to downplay the incident.

Despite the overwhelming public outcry, the controversy did not last long.

Microsoft's users are mostly middle-class people who naturally have a negative attitude towards domestic products. These people consider themselves superior and think they can see through everything, so they like to contradict ordinary netizens. Their articles, full of sarcasm and ridicule, immediately attract a lot of criticism from netizens.

Gradually, the matter evolved from blaming Microsoft into a war of words between the petty bourgeoisie and the lower class, which ultimately helped Microsoft out of its predicament.

Half a month later, as the dust gradually settled, Waters lay weakly on the sofa.

Chen Yongzheng's case was submitted to the higher-level supervisory department in just half a month.

According to information released by the Control Yuan, Chen Yung-cheng committed a general offense of instigation, which carries a sentence of ten years imprisonment.

However, Chen Yongzheng surrendered himself to the police and confessed to his crimes, so his basic sentence of ten years was reduced by 30%-50%.

In addition, if he behaves well in prison, he should be able to get out in 3-5 years.

It hurts, it's a real, excruciating pain.

Chen Yongzheng was not just a subordinate, but a weapon he personally promoted and embedded deep within the Chinese market.

Chen Yongzheng's understanding of China's political and business environment, his extensive network of contacts, and his ability to handle complex situations are irreplaceable.

Losing him means that Microsoft's strategic execution capabilities in China will be severely weakened, many projects that require local expertise will come to a standstill, and competitors will certainly take the opportunity to erode the market.

This is not only the loss of a key general, but also a serious blow to his strategic plan.

Making Chen Yongzheng take the blame was truly the most difficult thing in his career. Recalling the weighing of the options when making this decision, he is still somewhat hesitant.

Protect Chen Yongzheng?

Risk is extremely high.

Oner's accusations before his death and Hikari's testimony hung like a sword over Microsoft's head.

If the police uncover more evidence, it could very well backfire on him. At that point, not only would he be unable to protect Chen Yongzheng, but he and Microsoft headquarters could also be dragged down.

Microsoft's business in China may also face a devastating blow.

Abandon Chen Yongzheng?

The cost is too high.

It's like cutting off your own arm; business suffers, morale is low, and this act of sacrificing a pawn will cause other subordinates to feel the same way, greatly damaging team cohesion.

The advantage is that it allows for a quick break-in, preserving Microsoft's shell in China and giving it time to breathe and retaliate.

The lesser of two evils.

Under immense pressure and the practical consideration of preserving his core supporters, he chose to sacrifice Chen Yongzheng.

This is the trade-off made by the fire chief, and also the survival rule of international capital giants.

“Cheng Yi…” Waters murmured to himself, the name feeling like a thorn stuck in his heart.

He was almost certain that Cheng Yi was the mastermind behind this.

From the moment Ona entered the country, no, perhaps even earlier, he had fallen into the opponent's rhythm.

This feeling of being out of control and frustrated made him extremely uncomfortable.

This incident has severely damaged Microsoft's image, and the policy environment may worsen, making it difficult for Microsoft to defeat Momo Group head-on in the short term.

He now needs to open up a new battlefield, one where he can master the rules and leverage his advantages.

Waters left the office with a heavy heart and went to a secure room that was not open to the public. There were no windows, only a few server-grade computers and several huge monitors.

In the room, Booker was curled up in an ergonomic chair, his eyes glued to the screen, studying the code.

“Mr. Booker,” Waters’ voice broke the silence in the room, “How much usable stuff have you found regarding the Moc-os system?”

Booker didn't turn around. His voice carried the calmness characteristic of a technical expert as he said, "Their system is interesting. Architecturally, they're clever, making extensive use of things like the Linux kernel and the GNU toolchain—we can't criticize those, but..."

He paused, brought up several complex code comparison interfaces, and said, "But in the underlying rendering engine of the graphical user interface, some hardware driver compatibility layers, and the implementation of several core system APIs, I found very familiar traces."

Waters leaned closer to the screen. Although he couldn't understand the incomprehensible code, he could make out the percentage similarity between the highlighted parts marked by Booker and the corresponding Windows system code next to them.

“Look here,” Booker said, pointing to a line of code. “The optimization algorithm for this memory management module is highly consistent with the design logic in an unpublished test version from the Windows NT 4.0 era. Although they rewrote it in C++, the skeleton is ours. And here, this decoding library for handling multimedia files uses many variants of compression algorithms that we patented back in the MS-DOS era, with only minor modifications.”

As he spoke, Booker quickly compiled these findings into a detailed report, along with numerous code screenshots and comparative analyses. He laughed and said, "To claim that they are completely independent innovators is to fool laymen. It is almost impossible to completely bypass our technology patents in the field of operating systems."

He eventually packaged all the evidence into a small, encrypted USB drive and handed it to Waters, saying, "This contains seventeen code modules that can clearly accuse them of infringing on our intellectual property rights or improperly using our patented technology. According to the U.S. Copyright Act and Patent Act, as well as the relevant patent documents held by Microsoft, this is enough for us to file a major lawsuit in U.S. courts."

Waters took the USB drive, feeling its weight; it contained his weapon to deliver a fatal blow to Cheng Yi and the Momo Group.

A genuine smile appeared on his face, the first one he'd shown in a long time. Just as his smile bloomed, Booker added, "Oh, by the way, all the evidence I've listed can be refuted. They fall somewhere between infringement and non-infringement. In China, we definitely wouldn't win these cases, but in the United States, the chances of winning are very high."

(End of this chapter)