Chapter 9 Plagiarism (3) Unfortunately, he chose the wrong target and offended...

The name Gu Moheng pierced Wen Chen's eyes. Just moments ago, this person had casually brought him millet porridge.

What is he after?

Wen Chen very slowly, inch by inch, shifted his gaze away from the bolded address.

Gu Moheng of Mosheng Capital.

His fingertips instantly turned icy cold. The warm porridge he had just swallowed seemed to surge upwards, transforming into scalding lava, burning and churning within his internal organs. He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and gulped down the cold air in the office. The air felt like it was filled with countless tiny icicles, scraping across his throat, cutting painfully into his lungs, yet also forcibly forcing his chaotic thoughts back, inch by inch, to a cold clarity.

A few seconds later, her eyelashes suddenly fluttered open. All the turmoil and sharp pain in her eyes had vanished completely, leaving only calm.

wrong.

This method is too clumsy.

Who is Gu Moheng?

He's a man who built a financial empire from scratch amidst the bloodshed of Wall Street; his methods are far more meticulous and leave no trace than anyone imagines. Using his own lodgings as a source of attack? That's an insult to Gu Moheng's intelligence.

Mosheng Capital is the largest investor in the "Returning Home" project. A cold-blooded capitalist who calculates business profits to three decimal places, personally destroyed his first project after returning to China, using hundreds of millions of dollars, just to see him in a sorry state?

This doesn't make business sense.

It doesn't fit his perception of Gu Moheng at all.

To brazenly point such a fatal, easily detectable clue as the IP address to one's own territory is like a murderer who, instead of erasing fingerprints, neatly places their ID card next to the body after committing the crime.

Foolish, clumsy, and full of flaws.

This was definitely not Gu Moheng's doing.

In Wen Chen's mind, the image of that man at the negotiating table appeared clearly. His words were like knives, his logic meticulous, always calm, always with a backup plan; when he did strike, it was always with overwhelming force, a fatal blow. That man, if he wanted to destroy someone, would only use an invisible knife, silently slitting your throat at the most unexpected moment.

The person who set this up either had their eyes on Wen Chen, or on Gu Moheng.

Or, kill two birds with one stone.

The voice that had warned him at the construction site suddenly exploded in his mind.

"Stay away from 'Apocalypse Capital'. Their founders are not clean."

Wen Chen's lips curled into a very faint smile. He picked up his phone; the screen was still displaying the email from his assistant, Xiao Li. His fingertip swiped across the screen, and without the slightest hesitation, he dialed the number.

The call was answered almost instantly, and Xiao Li's anxious voice came through: "Teacher Wen! Did you see that? This... how is this possible!"

"I saw it. Besides you and me, who else knows the source of this IP address?"

"Don't worry, Professor Wen!" Xiao Li replied immediately. "This was sent to you by a technical expert from Mosheng using special channels to circumvent tracking. The result was encrypted. I read it and forwarded it to you immediately. No one else should know about it except for people from Mosheng."

"People from Mo Sheng?"

"Yes, Chen Qi, he's incredibly professional!"

"Help me investigate a company." Wen Chen's voice was very low, like a sharp blade tempered with ice.

"Tianqi Capital".

"What a coincidence, Teacher Wen." On the other end of the phone, Xiao Li's voice still carried lingering shock. "President Gu just gave the same instruction to Chen Qi."

Wen Chen calmly hung up the phone without offering any further explanation or revealing any emotion. She then slumped onto the sofa and stared up at the ceiling.

So that's how it is. The other party calculated that Gu Moheng would not stand idly by. They also calculated that Gu Moheng's people would definitely be able to find out this carefully packaged "truth".

However, she did not expect Gu Moheng to find her so quickly and accurately.

Wen Chen sat quietly, suddenly wanting to see how Gu Moheng, who was being roasted over a fire, would act out this drama.

Should I come to him for a feeble explanation, or should I use my usual tough stance to suppress the matter and pretend it never happened?

At dawn, the Dream Building Studio resembled a ravaged battlefield.

The online storm reached its peak, with countless marketing accounts and online trolls tearing at "Zhumeng" and Wen Chen like vultures smelling blood.

"Teacher Wen, Mosheng just released a statement," Xiao Li messaged.

Wen Chen clicked on the attached link below.

Mosheng Capital's statement was calm and firm, carrying the unquestionable authority of a financial giant.

Regarding the plagiarism allegations against Mr. Wen Chen, the collaborating designer for the 'Return to the Nest' project, and his studio, Mosheng Capital has established a special investigation team. Before the final results are announced, Mosheng will unconditionally trust and support our partner. We reserve all rights to pursue legal action against any act of spreading false rumors or malicious slander.

Looking at the phrase "unconditional trust," a complex and unreadable emotion flashed across Wen Chen's eyes.

This is very Gu Moheng.

Before he could even put his phone down, it started vibrating in his palm. The screen still displayed that unaddressed number.

Wen Chen answered the call but didn't say anything.

"Grand Hyatt Hotel, Room 3901." Gu Moheng's voice came through the receiver, barely suppressing his extreme patience. "Half an hour, is that enough?"

Half an hour later, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

Wen Chen stood at the door of the 3901 presidential suite and rang the doorbell.

The person who opened the door was Qin Shu, Gu Moheng's special assistant. "Designer Wen." Qin Shu stepped aside and respectfully gestured for Wen Chen to enter the room. After Wen Chen entered, Qin Shu closed the door again and then left himself.

The suite was nicely heated. Gu Moheng stood before the huge floor-to-ceiling window, his tall figure as straight as a pine tree. He wore a black silk robe, the collar slightly open, and held a coffee in his hand, exuding an aura of unapproachability. Hearing footsteps, he turned and walked towards Wen Chen. "Look at that," he said, gesturing with his chin to the projection wall in the center of the living room.

A high-definition surveillance video is playing silently on the wall.

A clear timestamp in the corner of the screen reads: "[Two days ago, 23:47]". In the footage, a slender figure in a hotel cleaning uniform, wearing a mask and hat, sneaks into the suite, skillfully avoiding regular surveillance cameras, and heads straight for the study. They pull out a mini USB drive and insert it into Gu Moheng's personal computer.

The progress bar loaded incredibly fast, taking no more than three minutes in total.

"The IP address spoofing originated from me." Gu Moheng turned around, his deep eyes locking onto Wen Chen in the dim light. "But the one who made the move wasn't one of my people."

Wen Chen showed no surprise, no anger, not even the slightest emotional fluctuation. His handsome face was as calm as a deep, frozen pool. He had already guessed it. He just hadn't expected Gu Moheng to lay the evidence out in front of him so directly.

The light from the projection wall flowed across his glasses, but it couldn't reflect a single thought in his eyes.

"Finished reading?" Gu Moheng's voice was hoarse from not having slept all night.

Wen Chen ignored Gu Moheng and instead walked to the projection wall, extending her slender finger to lightly touch the blurry figure of the cleaner.

"The hotel's security system is touted as impenetrable. It can bypass all major surveillance cameras so precisely, and even implant programs on your personal computer..."

He paused, then finally turned his head, his cold eyes looking at Gu Moheng from a distance of several steps away, devoid of any warmth. "President Gu's enemies have some deep connections."

The statement was cold, tinged with a hint of sarcasm. It was as if to say: Look at the trouble you've gotten me into.

Gu Moheng's fingers tightened suddenly around the coffee cup, his knuckles turning pale from the effort.

"Yes." He squeezed out the word through clenched teeth, his jawline taut. "They're after me."

He took a step forward, his tall figure looming over him with an overwhelming sense of oppression. "But the knife they chose is you."

Wen Chen's eyelashes trembled almost imperceptibly.

He loathed this feeling, loathed that eight years later, he was still being passively drawn into the eye of this man's storm.

"So what?" Wen Chen smirked. "President Gu wants me to be grateful to you for finding the 'real culprit' for me and then conveniently settling this matter for me?"

"Wen Chen!" Gu Moheng roared, his eyes instantly turning bloodshot, like a net on the verge of breaking. He slammed the coffee cup on the table, the dark brown liquid splashing out and scalding his pale hand, but he was completely oblivious.

Wen Chen found his momentary loss of control somewhat laughable.

"Mr. Gu, the most profound lesson you taught me eight years ago was never to believe a single word a person says."

"Especially yours."

The air, in that instant, froze into ice.

Gu Moheng felt as if he had been punched hard in the face. He staggered back half a step, his lips moving but unable to utter a single word. His eyes, which had once been undefeated and commanding in the business world, were now a disheveled, helpless, and bloodshot red.

Wen Chen looked at him quietly, at this man whom he had once regarded as a star and later hated to the bone. He felt no joy, only an endless weariness.

a long time.

Wen Chen thought the standoff would continue silently until dawn.

Gu Moheng picked up the remote and pressed a button. The screen changed, displaying a secretly taken photograph. A smug, smiling middle-aged man was none other than Luo Zheng'an, the founder of Tianqi Capital.

Wen Chenxin's heart sank, but she remained silent, her gaze behind her gold-rimmed glasses as calm as still water.

“Remember I told you to stay away from him.” Gu Moheng’s tone was flat. “He also has his eye on the ‘Return to the Nest’ land. He’s been looking for an opportunity ever since Mosheng acquired it.”

“He can’t touch Mosheng’s foundation, so he chose you.” Gu Moheng’s voice was low and heavy with the impending storm. “‘Returning Home’ is the culmination of your eight years of hard work, and it’s also the project I value most after returning to China. It’s killing two birds with one stone.”

Gu Moheng chuckled lightly, "Unfortunately, he chose the wrong prey and offended the wrong person. I don't have the habit of giving away my things to others." With each step he took closer, the powerful sense of oppression grew stronger, enveloping Wen Chen without warning.

"At 5 a.m., Tianqi Capital's stock price fluctuated abnormally."

"At 5:30, Luo Zheng'an's three secret overseas accounts were frozen, suspected of massive money laundering."

“The minute before you arrived here, the Commercial Inspection Department took him away from his home.”

“Now,” Gu Moheng stopped in front of Wen Chen, looked down at him, and said in a low voice, “all the negative news about ‘Zhu Meng’ on the internet is being cleaned up at a rate of tens of thousands per minute.”

"By noon today at the latest, you will receive a handwritten apology letter and video from Luo Zheng'an, as well as a satisfactory compensation for emotional distress."

Wen Chen listened quietly.

Gu Moheng recounted in the calmest tone a bloodless yet devastating massacre. It was so fast it chilled him to the bone; this was Gu Moheng's current method.

Wen Chen slowly raised her eyes to meet those unfathomable gazes. "So, President Gu called me here just to hear your battle report?"

"No, it's not a battle report."

He looked at Wen Chen, a suppressed undercurrent surging in his eyes, each word sounding like a vow.

"It's an explanation."

Wen Chen suddenly laughed. The laughter was extremely soft, without a trace of warmth.

"I also want to tell you," Gu Moheng's voice was even hoarser than before, "that I will protect you and will not let anyone hurt you in the slightest."

A note from the author:

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