I asked you to write a light novel, but you wrote about living?

"no!"

The bald man hurriedly explained, "It's 'To Live'! The novel that went viral online last night, the author of 'To Live,' Yu Huashi!"

The communicator suddenly went silent.

After several seconds, the operations manager's voice turned somber, filled with disbelief:

"This is impossible... How could that low-level trash, who can't even afford basic AI and can only serve as a stepping stone for Mr. Pei's inspiration, possibly be him?"

"It's him."

The bald man said confidently, "That old-fashioned mechanical keyboard, and the water stains next to the Enter key, are exactly the same as in the screenshot from last night's live stream. We've also confirmed the person in person; there's no mistake."

……

Shangcheng District, a private holographic intelligent computing mansion.

The operations officer stood there holding the communicator, his palms sweating.

Sitting in an ergonomic chair, Pei Zhixing stared at the Weiguang Literature page on the screen, feeling agitated.

He noticed the movement behind him, frowned, and turned halfway around:

"What happened?"

The operations officer swallowed hard, his voice very soft:

"Mr. Pei... The debt collector from the lower district just called and said that there is a three million yuan penalty for breach of contract, and the other party has the money in their account to settle the debt."

Pei Zhixing frowned even more deeply.

"What, three million?"

His tone clearly revealed his displeasure:

"Why bring up these low-level debt collector problems in front of me? Are you bored today?"

His mind was now completely focused on how to snatch the top-quality gem that was "Living," and he had no time to care about the millions in the lower city.

The operations officer's forehead was covered in cold sweat, which slid down his cheeks. He forced a smile and reminded him:

"Mr. Pei, it's that case from a few months ago... that disabled writer from the Lower District, named Yu Wen. You took a liking to his outline and fed it to Xinghui's mainframe. To shut him up, the legal department countersued him for plagiarism and settled that sky-high breach of contract penalty of three million."

Pei Zhixing narrowed his eyes and searched his mind for a long time before vaguely piecing together this blurry shadow from the corners of his memory.

"Oh, that good-for-nothing."

Pei Zhixing picked up the coffee on the table, his tone becoming nonchalant again, even tinged with contempt:

"He's not dead yet? If he has money to settle the debts, let him settle them. Just wipe this dead debt clean. Is this kind of trash even worth reporting to you?"

"No...it's not about the money, Mr. Pei."

The operations officer didn't dare look Pei Zhixing in the eye. "The debt collectors saw the old keyboard from last night's live stream on that broken table... They confirmed it in person."

Pei Zhixing's hand, holding the coffee cup, froze in mid-air.

The operations officer took a deep breath:

"Mr. Pei, that disabled person... is Yu Huashi, the author of 'To Live'."

"Clang!"

The expensive bone china coffee cup slipped from Pei Zhixing's fingers and slammed onto the metal table, splashing brown liquid all over the floor.

Pei Zhixing's arrogance and composure froze completely in that instant.

Was the author of "To Live" that disabled man from the downtown area?!

That lowly writer whose life's work was drained by his "Starshine" mastermind, whose work was plagiarized by Yuntu Literature, and who was then attacked by him with legal means and trampled underfoot like trash?!

He even remembered the disdain he felt when he first looked at that rough manuscript.

How could a poor, crippled person who can't even afford basic AI write such thought-provoking and insightful articles?

Since this ant has no capital to monetize, it might as well be chewed up by Yuntu's supercomputer, squeezed dry of its last bit of value, and turned into a stepping stone for Pei Zhixing to solidify his altar.

But now, this ant has transformed into a living god of wealth, protected by the full resources of Weiguang Literature, and a deity in the hearts of millions of enthusiastic readers across the internet!

Pei Zhixing stiffly turned his head to look at the holographic screen.

On the Weiguang Literature website, the black-and-white poster of "To Live" occupies the most prominent recommendation position, and the number of people reading it online in real time is skyrocketing like a monster.

A bone-chilling cold suddenly shot up from the soles of Pei Zhixing's feet to the top of his head.

He knew better than anyone how flimsy Yuntu Literature's methods of framing the other party were.

He wouldn't care if it were just a slum ant that could be trampled to death at any moment and couldn't even speak.

But once that disabled person hands over the three million to the public account, the case is completely closed, and they are freed from the unfair terms imposed by Yuntu Literature...

He then turned around and used the terrifying traffic of the Weiguang platform to expose the truth across the entire internet that "Yuntu Literature and Xinghui Mastermind colluded to plagiarize and frame him"...

With the massive readership of "To Live," the overwhelming wave of public opinion is enough to tear Yuntu Literature and Pei Zhixing to shreds!

We absolutely cannot let him pay this money back.

Pei Zhixing closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the cold air.

When he opened his eyes again, the brief shock was quickly suppressed by the ruthless and unscrupulous nature of the person in power.

"He has money. As long as he transfers it into the company account at midnight tonight, the case regarding the breach of contract penalty will be automatically closed..."

The operations manager looked at the coffee stains on the floor, his voice hoarse, "Mr. Pei, what should we do?"

"What's the panic?"

Pei Zhixing leaned back in his chair, quickly smoothing over his slight lapse in composure.

He knew very well that at the table of capital, whoever showed weakness first lost.

"In this day and age, having money in your account doesn't mean you can spend it."

He looked at the operations officer, speaking rapidly and clearly:

"Weiguang Literature didn't accept the infringement lawyer's letter drafted by the legal department just now, right? We'll just skip Weiguang."

"Take that report and immediately apply for 'emergency asset preservation' in the name of Star Shine Studios to the Federal Commercial Court."

The operations officer paused for a moment, then hesitated and said:

"But Mr. Pei, the standard asset preservation procedure in federal court is very complicated, requiring at least 24 hours of review. It simply can't be approved before midnight tonight..."

"Who told you to go through the standard review process?"

Pei Zhixing stared at the countdown on the screen, his tone devoid of any warmth:

"Given the huge amount of money involved, we have ample reason to suspect that the funds in his account are proceeds of illegal infringement transferred by the Weiguang platform."

"Using the highest level of VIP access in Cloud Atlas's legal department, and through the privileged channels of conglomerates, I want all of his credit accounts to be forcibly frozen by the federal system within 24 hours."

Once an account is locked, the money becomes a static, unmovable string of data.

The transfer failed at midnight tonight.

The federal judicial system would then determine that the payment was in default and directly initiate the underlying organ collateral and asset forfeiture procedures.

Pei Zhixing grabbed a tissue and slowly wiped the coffee stains from the back of his hand, completely reverting to the arrogance and cruelty of a superior:

"I want to see how a cripple living in the slums can fight against the rules of the uptown."