The richest man started taking advantage of loopholes after joining Alibaba.

At 8:00 sharp, the call was connected.

Lin Che sat on the sofa in his Binjiang residence. The living room lights were off, with only the streetlights from outside shining in through the window.

The streetlights had switched to energy-saving mode, and their dim yellow light drew a blurry rectangle on the floor.

Shen Nan was in his hotel room in Hangzhou. The sound was very clear, and the background was very quiet.

"Speak."

Lin Che didn't lay any groundwork.

"I want to ask you out a fourth time."

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Shen Nan remained silent.

The silence lasted only a short time, about three seconds.

But Lin Che could feel the weight of those three seconds.

When Shen Nan is silent, she is usually assessing the situation. Three seconds means she is evaluating the consequences of her words.

"When you say 'initiating a meeting,' do you mean you request to meet, not that you wait for the other person to contact you?"

"right."

"What's the reason?"

"I have something I can show him."

Shen Nan fell silent for a moment.

"What is that?"

Lin Che took out the note from his pocket that afternoon.

The note was already folded in half. He opened it and glanced at it; there was a single word written on it.

He didn't say that word on the phone.

"It's not convenient to talk on the phone, let's meet tomorrow to discuss it."

"Okay. I'll come to headquarters tomorrow morning."

"Don't come to headquarters."

Lin Che thought for a moment.

"The hotel you're staying at has a coffee shop in the lobby. It opens tomorrow morning at 10:00."

"good."

The phone hangs up.

Lin Che placed his phone on the coffee table.

He still had the note in his hand, and stared at the word on it for a few seconds.

Then fold the sticky note back up and put it back in your pocket.

He leaned back on the sofa and closed his eyes.

There are a few things I need to figure out tonight.

First thing: What to show 607.

It's not about showing him the whole of Abyss, but about showing him a facet of it.

A facet that was enough to make him realize that "this thing has value".

But we can't let him see the whole picture.

The whole picture is the bottom card, the cross-section is the chips.

The role of bargaining chips is not to exchange, but to change the position of the conversation.

He's sitting in chair 607 now, and the person opposite him is asking him questions.

He wants to turn this position over.

It's not about getting the person opposite him to sit in his chair; that's impossible.

Instead, it makes the person on the other side realize that the relationship between the two sides of the table is not "investigator and investigated," but "two people who each have something in their hands."

The second thing: how to send this signal through Shennan.

Lin Che cannot contact 607 directly.

Lin Che doesn't have that person's contact information, nor should he.

It should be done through formal legal channels.

As Lin Che's legal advisor, Shen Nan can represent Lin Che in requesting a meeting with the other party.

The wording of the request is important.

You can't say "I have something to say," because that sounds like a confession.

You can't say "I want to explain," because that sounds like you have a guilty conscience.

What I want to say is, "I have some information that I believe could supplement our exchange, and I would like to arrange a meeting."

"Supplementary value".

These four words are key.

The message it conveys is: I have something you don't know, and this thing is useful for your work.

The third thing: timing.

It's the end of December now.

The New Year's Day holiday is approaching.

January follows the holiday, the first working month of the new year.

If you send a request before the holiday, the other party will process the information during the holiday.

Digestion during holidays is different from digestion on weekdays.

On weekdays, he will process requests according to procedures, schedule them, and follow the steps.

During his holidays, he would use his personal time to think about the significance of this matter.

The longer Lin Che thinks, the more advantageous it will be for him.

The fact that someone spent their vacation thinking about it shows that they were curious about it.

Curiosity is a power.

Curiosity allows an investigator to switch from "collecting evidence" mode to "understanding the object" mode.

Lin Che opened his eyes.

The streetlights outside the window were still a dim yellow, and the neighborhood was quiet.

He thought about it for about half an hour and figured out all three things.

He picked up his phone and sent a message to Shen Nan.

"When we meet tomorrow, I'll tell you something."

"I have never told anyone about this."

Shen Nan's reply came a while later.

"I see."

"See you tomorrow."

Lin Che put down his phone and stood up.

He walked to the window and pulled back the curtains a little.

In late December in Hangzhou, the sky was a deep blue.

The streetlights cast a dim yellow glow, the shadows of the trees remained still, and in the distance, a building had a few windows still lit.

He looked at the few lit windows.

The people inside are either working overtime, suffering from insomnia, or simply forgot to turn off the lights.

He stood there for about a minute.

Then I drew the curtains and went into the bedroom.

He didn't look at the crack in the ceiling when he lay in bed tonight.

He was looking at darkness itself.

You can't see anything in the dark.

But he knew what he would do tomorrow.

The next day at 10 a.m.

The coffee shop in the hotel lobby, a corner seat.

Shen Nan had arrived, with a cup of Americano in front of him, but he hadn't touched it.

Lin Che sat down and ordered a glass of water.

The waiter left after putting down the water. There weren't many people in the coffee shop; the nearest customers were three tables away.

"Speak."

Shen Nan looked at him.

Lin Che took out the sticky note from his pocket, opened it, and placed it on the table.

There was a single word written on the sticky note.

Abyss.

Shen Nan looked at that word.

She didn't ask, "What is this?"

She waited for Lin Che to speak for himself.

Lin Che spent about fifteen minutes explaining the basic concepts of Abyss.

Not all of it, but only the parts she needs to know.

What is Abyss? Where does it fit in the CCPS architecture? What is its potential value? What is its current status?

Shen Nan listened attentively to him without interrupting.

She only asked two questions in fifteen minutes.

First: "Does anyone know about this now?"

"Old Zhou knows the technical aspects, but he doesn't know what I'm going to use it for."

The second question: "What if the other party finds out themselves?"

"That's evidence, not leverage anymore."

After listening, Shen Nan paused for a moment on the side of the coffee cup with his finger.

She didn't drink that Americano; she hasn't had a drop since she sat down.

Are you sure you want to put this on the table?

"Not displaying the entire surface, but showing a cross-section."

"section?"

"Let him know I have this, let him know its value."

"But don't let him see everything."

Shen Nan stared at him for about five seconds.

"You want him to go from 'investigating you' to 'using you'."

Lin Che did not answer.

But he did not deny it.

Shen Nan glanced down at the word on the note.

Then I picked up the glass and took my first sip of Americano.

American style is outdated.

She put down the cup.

"I called Consultant Xu this afternoon."

"Through him to pass on the message?"

"He will convey a formal request for a meeting."

The wording uses "supplementary value."

Shen Nan glanced at Lin Che.

"You've already thought it through."

Lin Che didn't speak.

Shen Nan pushed the note back to him.

"Keep it safe, don't leave it anywhere."

Lin Che put the note back into his pocket.

Shen Nan stood up.

"I'm going to make a phone call."

She picked up her briefcase and walked out of the coffee shop.

Lin Che sat alone in the corner.

He took a sip of the water in front of him; the water was at room temperature.

The music playing in the coffee shop was soft, it was jazz.

He sat for about two minutes, then stood up and walked out of the hotel.

It was a late December morning in Hangzhou; the sky was overcast, but not cold.

He stood at the hotel entrance and took out his phone to take a look.

No new messages.

But he knew that Shen Nan would make a phone call sometime this afternoon.

That call will go through Consultant Xu and reach the person in room 607.

That person will hear a sentence.

"Mr. Lin Che has some information that he believes could supplement the exchange between the two sides, and he hopes to arrange a meeting."

Supplementary value.

These four words will make the person in room 607 pause for a moment.

Then he would think.

One of the people being surveyed requested a meeting, using the term "supplementary value."

This is not normal.

Abnormal things will arouse his curiosity.

The longer you think about it, the better.

Lin Che put his phone back in his pocket and looked up at the sky.

The sky was gray, with no sun and no rain.

He turned and walked towards the parking lot.