Professor Xie, isn't this a case of forcing customers to buy products that don't match the

On Tuesday evening, Shang Song left work half an hour later than usual due to a temporary parameter adjustment.

He rubbed his slightly sore eyes, walked out of the company building, and strolled slowly toward the subway station.

As dusk falls and the city lights begin to twinkle, crowds throng the streets.

Just around a relatively quiet corner not far from the subway entrance, Shang Song inadvertently caught a glimpse of a somewhat familiar figure.

It's Shen Yan.

Shen Yan was facing away from him, cornered against the wall by a tall man in a well-fitting suit.

The man had his back to Shang Song, so his face was obscured, but his posture exuded a strange sense of oppression as he reached out to grab Shen Yan's arm.

Shen Yan waved his hand to avoid it, his lips tightly pressed together, his face frighteningly pale.

Shang Song paused, instinctively stopping more than ten steps away.

Is he... a suitor? Or someone else entirely?

He couldn't see the man's expression, but he could hear the man's hushed voice coming from time to time.

"...Don't be ungrateful! Is this the kind of life you'll live without me? In this lousy little company?"

"My affairs are none of your business," Shen Yan said coldly.

"None of my business? Where do you think you can hide? Let me tell you..."

The pulling seemed to intensify.

The man seemed to be trying to forcibly pull Shen Yan away, but Shen Yan suddenly shook him off and pushed him away, her chest heaving violently.

The man seemed to be completely enraged, raising his hand as if to strike.

Shang Song's heart tightened, and he almost rushed over.

But the slap never came.

The man's hand froze in mid-air for a moment, then he abruptly withdrew it, as if he were furious or felt he had lost face.

He left with a muffled growl, seemingly a threat, before turning and striding toward a black Mercedes parked by the roadside. He opened the door and sped away.

Shen Yan stood still, motionless, until the taillights of that car disappeared into the traffic. Only then did he seem to relax, and his shoulders slumped slightly.

He stood there for a while before lowering his head, straightening his slightly disheveled collar, and then quickly walking into the subway station entrance, his back view looking pitifully thin.

Shang Song walked out from behind the lamppost, looking at Shen Yan's back, his brows furrowing involuntarily.

It seems there are troublesome pests around.

He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not chase after them.

Shen Yan seems to have a strong sense of self-esteem.

Approaching him rashly to offer help will only embarrass him further.

The next day, when Shang Songhuang entered the office, a beautifully packaged bouquet of white roses appeared on Shen Yan's workstation.

When Shen Yan came in, he paused for two seconds, then picked up the bouquet of flowers, walked straight to the large trash can in the corner of the office, and threw it in without hesitation.

Then, he returned to his seat, turned on his computer, and began his workday as if nothing had happened.

The next day, the blue roses were in bloom.

On the third day, there was a flower that Shang Song couldn't name.

Shen Yan always handled the flowers in the same way.

Whispers naturally broke out in the office.

Shang Song overheard Zhao Xiaowei and another colleague whispering to each other in the break room:

"...Did you see that? Those flowers were delivered by that Heart Whisper Flower Shop again today. I heard that a bouquet there costs at least four figures."

Zhao Xiaowei said mysteriously, "I glanced at a discarded card yesterday, and the signature seemed to be 'Zhou Xu'an.'"

"Zhou Xu'an? Which one?"

"The boss of 'Xushi Interactive'! Although the company isn't as big as Qingguo's, it's a big name in its niche. He's quite young, and I heard... he's pretty shrewd."

"No wonder Shen Yan threw it away without even looking. This isn't chasing someone; it's disgusting!"

"Tsk, getting involved with someone like that... what a terrible thing to do..."

Shang Song, holding his water glass, silently left the tea room.

It turns out that the man who was harassing Shen Yan was named Zhou Xu'an, and he was also the boss of Xushi Interactive.

He was somewhat worried about Shen Yan.

However, Shen Yan kept herself very isolated, rarely speaking to others except for necessary work-related exchanges.

Even Zhao Xiaowei, who loves gossip the most, wisely refrained from discussing it openly when she saw Shen Yan's cold expression.

He feared that his rash good intentions might become a burden to Shen Yan.

Ken shook his head and continued to focus on the code at hand.

Next Thursday is the open beta launch of the new version of "Starfield Fantasy", and the time has been spent on modification and testing, so it's Friday now.

There are less than two hours left before I get off work.

Shang Song rubbed his throbbing temples and glanced at the time in the lower right corner of his computer screen.

16: 37.

Xie Jing... he should be leaving Xishan soon, right? I wonder if there will be traffic on the way.

Thinking about going back to Xishan that night, and that Xie Jing might ask him how his work was going this week, or that blockhead might do something that would make his heart race or make him laugh and cry, he couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sweetness in his heart.

He planned to go downstairs to wait for Xie Jing after get off work, or have Xie Jing park his car a little further away to avoid any gossip or incidents!

Just then.

"Holy shit!!!"

A near-shattering scream suddenly erupted from Zhao Xiaowei's workstation.

Immediately following was the sound of Ken gasping for breath and then suddenly standing up from his computer chair.

"What's wrong, Xiao Wei?"

"Ken?"

Startled, the colleagues all looked up.

Zhao Xiaowei's face turned deathly pale. Pointing at his computer screen, his fingers trembled, and his voice changed: "Quick! Quick, look at the 'Phantom Blade' official website! And their official WeChat account! They just officially announced the video of the final boss in the new version!"

"Phantom Blade" is currently the most direct and strongest competitor of "Starfield Fantasy" in China.

The two sides are fiercely competing in the Starfield MMO arena, with a high degree of user overlap, and they engage in open and covert battles with each version update.

Ken quickly clicked the link, and a high-definition promotional video began to play.

After only a few seconds, the color drained from his face completely, and the veins on the back of his hand holding the mouse bulged.

The video footage is extremely impactful.

Deep within the dark and shattered star field, the ultimate BOSS, a massive and ferocious machine twisted with flesh and blood, slowly awakens. The special effects representing destruction and rebirth flow around it like living things, devouring light and generating new light.

The light rays that were swallowed and generated formed a beautifully broken star, which then exploded and swept across the entire screen. After the extreme brightness, it gradually faded into a stream of dark purple particles.

Every frame, the movement of every particle, the transition of every color and light effect... all of it was so familiar that it sent chills down Shang Song's spine, as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

This is not "similar" or "borrowed" at all!

This is exactly what he and Ken spent nearly two months repeatedly debugging and polishing, making it one of the core and most important selling points of the new version of "Starfield Fantasy".

The original plan was to release it next Monday as a visual effect of the final hidden boss's ultimate skill, "Devouring Star Ruins".

It is the result of their team's hard work, countless overtime hours, debates, and revisions.

Now, it has appeared prominently in the video of a "competitor's" high-profile announcement, under a new name - Guixu Zhichao.

The comments section was filled with exclamations of "Amazing!", "These special effects are incredible!", and "Phantom Blade has really made something of herself!"

The office was deathly silent.

The only sounds playing in the video are the sound effects and promotional slogans.

Seconds later, the office exploded.

"Who leaked it?!"

"It's all over...it's all over...we're starting next Thursday...what are we going to use as a replacement?!"

!

"This is fucking corporate espionage, isn't it?!"

"Investigate! We must find out who it is! Damn it!!!"