Hong Kong variety show: The mastermind behind the scenes is emerging.

In December, Hong Kong Island finally began to resemble winter. The leaves of the banyan trees along the street rustled in the morning breeze, scattering withered yellow leaves all over the ground.

He Wen stood downstairs at Aihua Pavilion and looked up at the lit window on the twelfth floor.

His hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly in his pockets, his palms sweaty.

Finally, he took a deep breath and pushed open the glass door of the apartment.

As the latest luxury residential project launched by New Century Real Estate, the lobby of Aihua Pavilion can be described as extremely luxurious. The floor is paved with polished marble, the ceiling is surrounded by warm yellow spotlights, and the elevator doors are made of brass, polished so that they can reflect images.

However, the quality of the lobby security guards was clearly questionable. At this moment, the security guard behind the desk was engrossed in studying a horse racing book, muttering something indistinctly, and didn't even notice that He Wen was not a tenant of the apartment at all.

He Wen silently stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the twelfth floor.

As the elevator doors closed, the floor numbers jumped up one by one. He Wen stared at the row of numbers, feeling as if his stomach was stuffed with a wad of wet cotton.

"bite!--"

Soon, the elevator reached the twelfth floor, and the elevator doors slid open silently to both sides.

He Wen stepped out of the elevator, seething with anger, and headed straight for the door of room 1209, where he raised his hand and pressed the doorbell heavily.

The crisp sound of the doorbell rang in the corridor, but there was no response from inside. He Wen gritted his teeth and couldn't help but press the doorbell twice more forcefully.

After a long while, the door finally opened from the inside.

Li Jiameng leaned against the doorframe, wearing a dark blue silk robe and holding a glass of red wine. His hair was a little messy, and he had a hickey on his neck. He looked rather sleazy.

When he saw that it was He Wen standing outside the door, he was stunned for a moment, and then a nakedly sarcastic smile appeared on his lips.

"Oh, isn't this Mr. He?" He deliberately emphasized the words "Mr. He," then swirled the red wine in his glass. "What brings you here so late at night?"

He Wen stood at the doorway, his hands hanging at his sides, his fists clenching and unclenching repeatedly. His lips were pressed into a thin line, and there were two deep bluish-gray lines under his eyes.

"Li Jiameng." His voice wasn't loud, and the end of his sentence trembled uncontrollably. "Why did you do this?"

"What did I do?" Li Jiameng tilted his head, looking completely innocent.

"How could you be so shameless!" He Wen clenched his fists. "I founded this company from scratch, I came up with the concept of the portal website, I wrote the first version of the code, and even the name 'Hong Kong Island Online' was my idea. You invested a million—a million—and then kicked me out?"

"In business, there's no such thing as right or wrong." Li Jiameng swirled his wine glass, the red wine clinging to it thickly. He glanced down at it as if looking at a work of art, then looked up, his mockery even more pronounced. "Blame yourself for being stupid."

He Wen's face instantly turned bright red, and he was so angry that he almost couldn't catch his breath.

In truth, all this suffering originated in the autumn of a year ago.

That year, Ho Man was twenty-two years old. He had just graduated from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Hong Kong and started his own business with an idea and a lot of enthusiasm.

His idea originated from Longteng Internet. Since Longteng Technology launched Longteng.net three years ago, it has become an instant global phenomenon. Since then, computer networks around the world have finally broken free from the predicament of being isolated regional networks, ushering in a new era of global interconnection.

In just three years, relying on the vast foundation of Longteng.com, tens of thousands of websites and personal web pages have emerged. Some people sell goods on them, some write serialized novels, some post their own photos, and some even use them as dating apps, chatting for hours on end.

However, as the number of websites increases and the quality of websites becomes more varied, problems arise: if you want to find a website, you can only rely on word-of-mouth recommendations from friends, or post a question on a forum asking "Does anyone know the website for XXX?" and then copy the address into your bookmarks.

As your bookmarks get fuller and fuller, sometimes it's even more troublesome to find something than if you hadn't saved it at all.

He Wen astutely recognized this huge market gap.

He spent an entire semester frantically browsing through all the popular websites on the internet and systematically categorizing and organizing them. Then, relying on his solid professional skills, he independently built a brand new small website.

This website has only one function—to categorize all websites, such as sports, finance, and novels, and arrange them neatly on the page.

Users no longer need to wander aimlessly through the vast sea of ​​the internet; they only need to remember this one entry point.

He called it a "gateway," meaning that you have to go through this door to get anywhere.

After graduating last year, he started seeking investment with the first version of the Hong Kong Island Online website.

However, after running around office buildings in Central and drinking countless cups of free coffee, the investors he met either shook their heads or proposed conditions that he could not accept at all.

Until one day, an alumnus introduced him to Li Jiameng.

Li Jiameng, a finance major, was a year ahead of him. His family was in the building materials business, making him a wealthy second-generation heir. After graduation, he used his father's money to start a software company in Central. However, lacking both technical skills and innovative ideas, he struggled for two years with little success. When he first saw He Wen's presentation, he immediately recognized the market potential and promptly decided, "One million. I'll invest."

The two established a new company. Li Jiameng invested the money, holding 49% of the shares, while He Wen contributed technology, holding 51% of the shares.

On the day the contract was signed, Li Jiameng patted him on the shoulder and said, "Awen, from now on we're brothers."

When he said this, his smile was as sincere as a spotless mirror.

So He Wen believed it.

In the early stages of their business, the two indeed got along very well. Li Jiameng was good at business, and He Wen was good at technology; their division of labor was clear, and they were very close.

Even six months later, Li Jiameng took the initiative to act as a matchmaker, introducing a girlfriend to the single He Wen.

The girl's name was Xu Ruoyun. Her father was a toy exporter, so she was definitely a rich girl.

She has a pair of sweet dimples when she smiles, and she always speaks in a soft, gentle voice. On their first date, He Wen accidentally knocked over his water glass because he was too nervous. Xu Ruoyun was not angry at all. Instead, she smiled gently and said it was okay, and carefully took a tissue to wipe his cuffs.

He Wen felt that period was the smoothest time of his life—the company was on track, his girlfriend was perfect, and his future was bright.

However, the good times did not last long.

In the second half of this year, the company planned to raise funds. Li Jiameng said that an investor was interested in the project and was willing to invest three million, on the condition that the company increase its capital and expand its shareholding. He Wen didn't understand finance, but he trusted Li Jiameng. The contract was drafted by Li Jiameng's lawyer, and He Wen signed it without thinking.

A week after signing the agreement, He Wen discovered that not a single penny of the money had arrived in the company account. He went to ask Li Jiameng, who told him that the investor had changed their mind at the last minute and that he should wait patiently.

Then, the company's board of directors informed him that his equity had been diluted, and his shareholding had decreased from 51% to 5%. Furthermore, due to "continuous absenteeism and leaking company trade secrets," he was dismissed from all positions.

He Wen was stunned. When he checked, he found that the capital increase agreement contained several pages of documents he had never seen before—the ownership of the technology patents, non-compete agreements, and an authorization letter for "voluntary transfer of part of the equity".

I have absolutely no recollection of it, but the signature on it is definitely his handwriting.

He remembered that on the night he signed the contract, Li Jiameng had dragged him out for drinks to celebrate, and he had drunk too much. His girlfriend, Xu Ruoyun, supported him and told him to "sign all of this; there are only a few pages left."

He signed it without really understanding what was going on.

He Wen was furious and wanted to confront Xu Ruoyun about why she did this, but he could no longer contact her.

Later, he found out that Xu Ruoyun was not the daughter of an importer or exporter at all, but a professional commercial spy who specializes in getting close to targets, gaining their trust, and then getting what the employer wants.

Her employer was none other than Li Jiameng.

He Wen desperately went to find a lawyer, but after listening to his case, the lawyer said that the existing written evidence was extremely unfavorable to him. Even if he went to court, the litigation fees alone would be at least 100,000 yuan, and the chances of winning were slim.

He went to the police station to report the incident, but the police said it was a commercial civil dispute and they had no right to interfere.

Having no other option, He Wen went directly to Li Jiameng's house, wanting to ask him for justice in person.

Listening to the other party's sarcastic and cynical arguments, He Wen took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the raging anger in his chest: "You hired Xu Ruoyun! From beginning to end, you've been setting me up!"

"Xu Ruoyun?" Li Jiameng tilted his head, as if recalling something, then suddenly realized and said, "You mean her? But wasn't that the woman you fell for yourself? I remember you told me back then that you had finally met the right person."

He paused, his tone becoming even more disdainful: "Xiao Wen, it's been so long, and you're still dwelling on this? But it's understandable, after all, that girl really acted well. I was even a little worried back then that she might actually fall in love with you, hahaha."

"Alpaca!"

He Wen's rationality collapsed instantly, his eyes bulged, and he suddenly lunged forward!

He grabbed Li Jiameng by the collar of his bathrobe with both hands and pressed him against the doorframe. Red wine spilled from the glass, splashing onto the hallway carpet and leaving a dark purple stain.

"you--"

"What about me?" Li Jiameng glanced down at his crumpled collar, then looked up again. He didn't struggle, didn't get angry, but simply glanced at the elevator at the end of the corridor. "Security!"

He Wen turned around abruptly following his gaze, only to find that the other party had notified the security downstairs at some point.

Two burly security guards in uniform rushed out menacingly, heading straight for them.

One of them was holding a walkie-talkie, while the other was already rolling up his sleeves.

Li Jiameng easily shook off He Wen's trembling hand, placed the wine glass on the shoe cabinet by the door, then turned around, tapped his temple with two fingers, and smiled at He Wen.

It carried an undisguised contempt that seemed to trample people underfoot.

"Remember this—the difference in brains."

He Wen's eyes were bloodshot, and he tried to struggle, but the two security guards each grabbed one of his arms and dragged him roughly into the elevator like a dead dog.

……

At nine o'clock in the evening, He Wen sat dejectedly at the bottom of the apartment building.

The night wind swept in from the direction of Causeway Bay, passing under the footbridge in Happy Valley, rustling the bauhinia trees on both sides of the road. The streetlights shone overhead, their pale blue light illuminating the back of his neck and revealing a wrinkled corner of his collar.

After sitting for about ten minutes, He Wen reached into his pocket, took out a Longteng mobile phone, and dialed a number.

"Feed?"

"sister."

"Awen? What's wrong?"

"Sister." He Wen leaned against the wall, his shoulder pressed against the cold cement surface. His lips moved for a long time before he finally choked out a sentence:

"I was bullied."