Water and Flames

Chapter

WAF CH75: Extra

by DewdropTL — Mid-2023, four years into their relationship. This time, Jing Hong and Zhou Chang hadn’t seen each other for an entire month. First, Jing Hong went on a business trip, but before he returned, Zhou Chang left on one. Then, before Zhou Chang returned, Jing Hong went on another business trip... Thus, a whole month went by without a single face-to-face meeting. By the time Jing Hong returned, their longing for each other had reached its peak. They had been "together" for four years, yet to the two…
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Chapter

WAF CH74: Extra

by DewdropTL — After that night in the Maldives, which was also following the "Qinghui Network Security Incident" and before they were shorted by Wall Street, Jing Hong and Zhou Chang actually crossed paths several times. One of those occasions was shortly after the Spring Festival, when both attended a charity gala in Guangzhou. By then, through the home visit to express gratitude over the "Qinghui Network Security Incident," the two red envelopes and blessings on Lunar New Year's Eve, the conversation at the…
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Chapter

WAF CH73: Extra

by DewdropTL — On a certain day in July 2022, a financial journalist who knew Jing Hong reached out to him and his father. He mentioned that he wanted to write a book—a biography—about the 25-year history of Fanhai Group's development. His plan was to spend several years writing a series titled The Rise and Fall of Chinese Internet Companies, with Fanhai as the first volume, covering its history from 1997 to 2022. He added that if both he and Fanhai were still around in 2047, he would write about the next 25…
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Chapter

WAF CH72: Extra

by DewdropTL — During the first year Jing Hong and Zhou Chang took charge of Fanhai and Qinghui respectively—before the Kunpeng and Huawei merger—the two had run into each other several times at various IT summits. At a summit in the United States, they heard each other give a full keynote speech for the first time. On that occasion, only three entrepreneurs present had come from Mainland China. At the summit that day, Jing Hong wore a white dress shirt and a grey suit. His voice was steady, unhurried, and…
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Chapter

WAF CH71

by DewdropTL — Another week later, just before the Spring Festival, Jing Hong and Zhou Chang were scheduled to attend a high-spec IT summit. Within that very week, the President of the United States signed yet another executive order targeting Chinese enterprises, adding eight more software applications to the "blacklist"—including office suites, document scanning tools, photo editing software, video downloaders, video editing tools, and more. Overnight, a shroud of pessimism spread across the industry once…
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Chapter

WAF CH70

by DewdropTL — In the two weeks that followed, Weilai’s executive suite underwent further upheaval. Li Zhiyong officially resigned, leaving the CTO to pick up the pieces—a man who had essentially served as acting chairman and acting CEO for the preceding two months. He had previously been the CEO of a star startup acquired by Weilai, after which he joined the tech giant. Word had it that he was personally deeply grateful to Li Zhiyong and harbored a strong dislike for Zhou Buqun. Back then, Qinghui had torn up an…
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Chapter

WAF CH69

by DewdropTL — Thinking back on it afterward, it was a sheer stroke of luck that the two of them were driving that reinforced Maybach that day. When the two vehicles collided, Jing Hong felt the world spin and tilt violently before his eyes. His body defied inertia as the airbags deployed all at once. But once he calmed down a bit, he realized he seemed to be largely unharmed, free of any serious injury. He immediately turned to look at Zhou Chang, only to find Zhou Chang struggling to open his eyes as well, trying…
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Chapter

WAF CH68

by DewdropTL — A few days later, another utterly shocking event erupted across the internet. Li Zhiyong, the CEO of Weilai, had been taken away by the authorities. In truth, back in mid-December, Jing Hong and Zhou Chang had already caught wind of rumors that he was "taken away." At first, the entire industry paid little mind to it—after all, he was the head of Weilai and had been investigated for two weeks by the Ministry of Public Security several years prior over multiple charges, only to walk away unscathed…
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Chapter

WAF CH67

by DewdropTL — That evening, when Jing Hong returned "home," Zhou Chang was already waiting for him. For some inexplicable reason, the moment Jing Hong laid eyes on Zhou Chang, his heart settled a fraction more. Perhaps it was because the man was his lover; perhaps it was because, amidst the storm of recent events, they found themselves allies once again. When Zhou Chang opened the door, Jing Hong did not enter right away. He simply stood at the threshold, looking up at Zhou Chang. Zhou Chang was in no rush…
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Chapter

WAF CH66

by DewdropTL — A few days after the annual gala, the external landscape suddenly underwent a dramatic shift. The trade war between China and the United States escalated once again, plunging tariff negotiations into a complete deadlock. At the same time, the President of the United States signed an executive order, declaring that several Chinese mobile applications—by virtue of possessing vast quantities of data—posed an absolute threat to U.S. national security. Effective after 45 days, any U.S. individual or…
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