0025 29 The Eight-Minute Rule
The 15-minute rule states that everyone has the opportunity to become famous online for 15 minutes.
Zhou Xiye also has her own eight-minute rule, which roughly states that everyone has eight minutes to come up with a plan to destroy the world.
She dedicated her own eight-minute plan to Ling Xingzhi for the first time.
What things can be considered both big and small in relation to a military parade?
It's definitely an information leak.
Whether in finance or politics... information is crucial in almost any industry where one can get rich.
The weapons used in each military parade are all samples, produced by Poly, and given to foreigners for testing. They're new, but not necessarily classified.
The first step is to obtain the important information.
Zhou Xiye had come up with a plan. He contacted the general's wife, who brought a bunch of equipment with her, intending to hack into the surveillance system and sneak into the study to find confidential documents.
She wasn't sure where the confidential documents were, but she figured she had to try.
Zhou Xiye and Jiang Yanci entered the General's Mansion together. Madam Jiang came out from a side hall, accompanied by her nanny carrying a pot of flowers.
"Director Zhou is here? Xiao Yan and I were just doing some illustration. The floral arrangement teacher has very good taste."
Madame Chiang Kai-shek gestured to the side, revealing that the person holding the flowerpot was the florist. Zhou Xiye glanced down at the flowers in the vase. To be honest, Zhou Xiye couldn't discern any artistic taste, so she could only smile sincerely and nod, "They're so beautiful... Teacher, do you have some time to help me improve my artistic taste?"
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the florist left, and Zhou Xiye and Jiang Yanci sat on one sofa, while Mrs. Jiang sat on the sofa opposite them.
"Zhou Pei and General Jiang went to Suzhou together, and I'm a little bored..."
Zhou Xiye explained his purpose, then glanced at Jiang Yanci, "One downside of working within the system is that everyone is too composed. Women my age are all so beautiful, while I can only waste my youth in the office wearing a suit..."
Jiang Yanci laughed after hearing this. These words were particularly pointed. People from prestigious families and wealthy people are better off with more free time. Wasting time on beauty is the greatest compliment to them.
"No, Zhou Pei isn't here either. Come visit me when you're free."
After hearing this, Madame Chiang shook her head with a smile, "You two siblings are quite strange. When Zhou Pei was in City A, I heard him say that you never went to the military camp to see him even once, and you even found it troublesome to make a phone call. How come you still want to visit him now that you're in Suzhou?"
Outsiders are not very clear about the relationship between Zhou Xiye and Zhou Pei. Only the Zhou family knows about this adopted younger brother. When Zhou Xiye brought him back, the Zhou family always objected. A boy who is not related by blood? That won't do. It will cost a lot of money. But Zhou Xiye didn't care. He took Zhou Pei to meet his family and left without even eating.
“He’s in City A, which is in the same area as me. He went to Suzhou, which is so far away. I’m worried about him.”
Zhou Xiye offered a casual explanation, but before she could continue, Jiang Yanci chimed in, "Sister... I'll call you sister like Zhou Pei does. You're 28 this year, are you still going to stay with that weirdo? Do you want me to introduce you to some nice guys?"
Jiang Yanci said this with a smile, but for some reason Zhou Xiye found it a bit strange, though she couldn't quite put her finger on why.
Seeing that Zhou Xiye's expression was a bit awkward, Jiang Yanci continued, "Women are like tigers at thirty, are you satisfied with your sex life, sister?"
No sooner had she finished speaking than Madame Chiang threw a pillow at her, saying, "Nonsense."
Jiang Yanci chuckled, "A classmate is coming back from Canada this weekend, and we're having a welcome-back party for him. Are you coming? They're all nice people." Then, she turned her head and added, "Mom, you're going to Hong Kong this weekend, so I'm planning to have the party at our house. Is that okay?"
Seeing that Madame Chiang Kai-shek nodded, Zhou Xiye thought it was acceptable and postponed the plan to the weekend.
A party at the Chiang family's house over the weekend.
A group of people gathered around the sofa, listening to the person sitting on the carpet talk animatedly, occasionally exchanging a few words.
"Under what circumstances would a crowd be provoked and incited? Would they rather believe distorted facts than see the truth before their eyes?" Zhou Xiye, wearing a leather jacket, took a sip of wine from a bottle in his hand, and sat cross-legged on a blanket imported from France.
"Let's imagine this scenario: a niche online novel, updated daily, with few readers, is neither popular nor unpopular, and there's nothing wrong with that. But then, just after the website was restored and became available again, the novel was taken down. Several readers immediately asked, 'What happened? Did something happen to the author?' But not long after, someone accused the author of plagiarism. Coincidentally, the author also deleted their Weibo account. People started to wonder if the author had run away after discovering the plagiarism?"
"That's plagiarism, need I say more?"
Zhou Xiye shook her head, looking at the people surrounding her with their bright eyes, listening to her words with great interest. She took another sip of wine, changed her posture, bent her legs, and put her hands on her legs.
"It's too much of a coincidence, isn't it? Everyone thinks this logic makes perfect sense: plagiarism, running away. Some people even ask, 'Are you the author behind this account?' But the way the author ran away was too ugly, and he looked too guilty."
"In short, two opposing viewpoints have emerged: on the one hand, it's undeniable that it's plagiarism, and on the other hand, readers are defending it. Actually, both perspectives are understandable. One is that plagiarizing another book infringes on its rights and should be condemned; the other is that the author, who likes the book, can't bear to use the error in one chapter to negate the entire book."
Zhou Xiye sighed, “But the situation gradually became complicated. In certain contexts, the author’s wrongdoings were labeled as ‘empty-headed,’ ‘the entire text is plagiarized,’ ‘the character development is problematic,’ ‘wielding the knife against the weak,’ and ‘original simplified Chinese is dead.’”
"The author is wrong, very wrong. She violated the first rule of writing and originality, which is 'no plagiarism.' It's hateful. Some people even think she's morally depraved and inhuman. And these critics feel they're on a moral high ground, so they can criticize her to their heart's content, throwing all sorts of things at her—because she's a sinner, and you can use any words when you're dealing with a sinner."
“If writing is like giving birth, then plagiarism is like stealing someone else’s genes,” someone countered. “Do people who make mistakes deserve sympathy?”
Zhou Xiye laughed, "Then let me ask you, why does plagiarism persist in the online literature world, with repeated offenses and no change in behavior? Is it because the law is not strict enough? The punishments are not severe enough?" She paused, not giving anyone a chance to answer, and answered herself, "It's because most people find it difficult to uphold this principle. Those who can shout this out are those who face too few temptations. Principles are very important to them. The only thing they can uphold, the only thing that can demonstrate their value, is standing on the moral high ground and shouting 'Plagiarism is shameful.'"
"So do you understand now?" Zhou Xiye paused, and the group of rich and powerful kids looked confused. Zhou Xiye sighed and continued, "Why are students the easiest to be swayed and the most upright group?"
"That's it?" Jiang Yanci frowned. "Then is the author a plagiarist or the original author?"
Zhou Xiye took a sip and then remained silent.
Everyone else found it boring, but Zhou Xiye smiled smugly and took a sip of his drink. The people around him scattered, the music started, and the pretty girls and handsome guys began to sway. Zhou Xiye finished his bottle of wine, threw the bottle aside, took off his leather jacket, and jumped into the crowd to dance wildly.
Zhou Xiye has a very well-proportioned figure, and she is wearing a pickled vegetable-colored tight-fitting tank top underneath, giving her a sexy vibe reminiscent of the Y2K era.
Fortunately, the people around her didn't know she was the director of the Beijing Liaison Office, otherwise they would definitely have laughed at her.
Unfortunately, this is also a stereotype about officials.
After a long while, Zhou Xiye felt sweating. She went to the bathroom, locked the door, and took out her clothes from the vent: a black long hoodie and loose cargo pants.
Mask, hat, and then sunglasses.
After everything was ready, she took out her computer, installed a program, and connected to the general's surveillance system.
Deciphering it would take some time, and she had specifically learned programming in order to do some bad things.
Adjusting the surveillance system is simple; after all, home security systems aren't that advanced, and no one would dare steal anything from the general's mansion.
While I was adjusting the video, someone knocked on the door. "Is anyone home? I need to pee!"
Judging from the sound, the person was drunk. Zhou Xiye ignored him and watched the progress bar on the computer move slowly.
The man didn't leave; he kept knocking on the door, "Hey—are you having sex?"
Zhou Xiye was very annoyed. She turned her head and yelled, "Fuck off!" The person outside the door chuckled, then fell silent. The video was also finished five minutes later. She planned to edit the video a bit before putting it back in.
Zhou Xiye left the restroom and swaggered towards the study.
The study door is unlocked; it's just a regular door.
Once inside, Zhou Xiye saw a large safe, hesitated for a moment, and didn't go over.
"Jiang Yunpeng is very interesting. He always says that all's fair in war, and that the most ordinary places are often the most crucial."
Zhou Pei's words echoed in her ears. Zhou Xiye didn't walk to the safe; instead, she opened the bookcase and searched for classified documents. Generally, classified documents are kept in two copies: one paper copy and one electronic copy. Jiang Yunpeng was old and didn't like the electronic version, preferring the paper copy. In fact, most older officials preferred the paper version.
After searching for a while, she found it. After observing it for a while and confirming that there were no small pieces of paper to check if anyone would touch the documents, Zhou Xiye finally made her move.
It was too easy. Zhou Xiye felt there was no challenge at all. The top-secret document listed various types of weapons. Zhou Xiye took pictures of the less important information he knew and then put the document away.
Perhaps it was too simple, because the study door was pushed open.
Zhou Xiye hurriedly hid under the large desk.
"Do you miss me, baby..."
He heard panting and the sound of caressing flesh. Zhou Xiye gasped; it was Jiang Yanci's voice.
I was surprised for a moment, but then I thought it was perfectly normal. It's understandable that a general's child would be a little precocious.
"Missing your husband's big cock? Squat down, I'll give you a lollipop."
Then came the sound of someone eating chicken.
...
Suddenly she had another plan.
Just as the two were shaking so violently that the sofa was about to break, Zhou Xiye took out the list again.
Zhou Xiye listened to them having sex for nearly twenty minutes. He couldn't see how long the man's penis was, but he could feel that the two were deeply in love and reluctant to part.
"You really want to be with that Zhou Pei guy?" the man asked.
Jiang Yanci said, "Yes, he's a good person."
"Why? Am I not good enough?"
Jiang Yanci continued, "You're hard to control. Zhou Pei has no relatives here, no power or influence. If I marry him, I'll be in charge after the marriage. If he dares to bully me, my dad will take care of him... What about you... Your family is so powerful... Your mother is a tigress..."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xiye frowned. It turned out that she knew he and Zhou Pei were not biological children.
No wonder……
After the two left, Zhou Xiye crawled out from under the desk and said, "Since that's how it is, I'm sorry, Miss Jiang."
The video only removed footage of her entering and leaving; the footage of Miss Jiang and her man was not cut. Afterward, Zhou Xiye stuffed the documents he had taken out into Miss Jiang's clothes.
After everything was arranged, she walked out of Jiang Yanci's room. As soon as she stepped out, she saw a fair-skinned man standing by the window outside the bedroom door, smoking.
"Hello..." Zhou Xiye, feeling guilty, greeted him with a smile.
The fair-skinned man nodded. Just as Zhou Xiye was about to leave, he suddenly said, "The story you described happens all the time. Some people are innocently dragged into it, but others use it as a pretext to achieve their own goals. The truth is no longer important; what matters is that everyone benefits from it—the book that was never noticed before is noticed because of the plagiarism, and the author gains attention… Those readers who never appeared before, standing on their moral high ground to judge, do they hate the author? Not necessarily. Do they like the plagiarized book? Not necessarily; they just need a platform to vent their emotions."
Zhou Xiye paused, turned to look at him, and said, "There are still smart people out there."
The man stubbed out his cigarette, took two steps toward Zhou Xiye, and said, "Hello, Yi Chenling."
Oh, so he's the son of the famous bank president. He certainly has a scholarly air about him.
Zhou Xiye extended his hand, "Zhou Xiye".
The two of them were now acquainted.
...
Step 2
On Saturday, Zhou Xiye printed out the photos and sent them out anonymously. To whom? Of course, to the media, especially the media backed by Japanese capital.
At this point, the matter is practically settled. The fewer people involved in a project, the higher the success rate and the lower the chance of it being leaked.
On Sunday, Zhou Xiye treated herself to a spa treatment at a club she frequented in Beijing.
As luck would have it, perhaps it was fate, or perhaps it was just good fortune, but the person separated from Zhou Xiye by a thin veil was Wei Luochen, Secretary Ling's wife.
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