46: Chapter 46 The Gu family line cannot be broken.

In the meeting room of Digital Power, sunlight slanted through the glass curtain wall, casting bright spots of light on the floor.

Wang Tao pushed over a test report, a smile of undisguised joy on his face: "President Zhang, your optimization plan exceeded expectations — loading speed increased by 47%, image quality loss is less than 3%, and Sok's technical representative is very satisfied."

The blonde foreigner sitting next to him nodded immediately and said in stiff Chinese, "Mr. Zhang Fan, your algorithm logic is very exquisite, even better than the best results we expected."

Zhang Fan felt a sense of relief. For this project, he and Gu Jingshen had stayed up for countless nights, and they had scrapped the compression scheme for dynamic lighting seven times alone. Now, hearing this affirmation, the days of exhaustion seemed to vanish.

"According to the contract, there's a 20% bonus for early delivery." Engineer Li pushed over a supplemental agreement. "These are the supplementary terms; the advance payment and bonus will both arrive in your account tomorrow."

Zhang Fan took the agreement, his fingertips sliding over the figure "700,000" — a base fee of 500,000, plus a 20% bonus of 100,000, and another 100,000 for early delivery, totaling exactly 700,000.

Singularity Technology's first major order had come to a successful close. This money was enough for him to hire two senior programmers and expand the office in the incubator park into a proper studio.

"We must celebrate!" Gu Jingshen chimed in from the side, slapping the table. "Leaders, tonight is on me. Heaven on Earth, the full service!"

Wang Tao smiled and waved his hand. "Mr. Gu, you're joking. We at Digital Power have regulations; we don't accept banquets from partners. That's a red line."

"Oh, I was just lightening the mood, definitely no intention of bribery!" Gu Jingshen quickly waved his hands, making everyone laugh.

"There will be plenty of opportunities for cooperation in the future." Wang Tao saw them to the door and shook Zhang Fan's hand. "We've seen Singularity Technology's technical strength for ourselves. We look forward to the next collaboration."

Leaving the Shuzi Dongli Building, Gu Jingshen hooked his arm around Zhang Fan's neck. "Let's go. They didn't give us the face, so the two of us will find a place to grab a drink. To celebrate my Fan Zi's double harvest in career and love—oh no, I mean, his successful 'de-flowering'."

"Get lost, be serious." Zhang Fan laughed and pushed him away. "I have to go to Blue Whale Games this afternoon."

"What are you going there for?" Gu Jingshen raised an eyebrow. "Are you really planning to reconcile with them?"

"Reconcile?" Zhang Fan curled his lip. "I'm going there to make money, of course."

"Forget it, Blue Whale letting you make money?" Gu Jingshen rolled his eyes. "It'll be a miracle if they don't screw you over."

"So I have to prepare for both scenarios." Zhang Fan sat in the passenger seat, the system interface flashing in his mind.

【Daily Intelligence: Allen has no intention of paying 2.5 million. He plans to have Chang Yuan stall you and then decide after the BUG is fixed.】

The crimson font was still flashing.

When he hung up the phone last night, he happened to see this piece of intelligence. He already knew Blue Whale wouldn't compromise easily, but he didn't expect them to be so underhanded.

So he stayed up all night adding an even deeper "Code Trap" to the original source code. If anyone really tried to default, then he was sorry.

At that time, a single command from Zhang Fan would trigger an ultimate server lockout. Forget 250,000 players online; they wouldn't even be able to get into the login screen.

"By the way, can you help me contact a lawyer from the Gu Corporation's legal department?" Zhang Fan fastened his seatbelt. "I need them to accompany me to Blue Whale."

"I can't make that call; you'll have to ask Ms. Tang." Gu Jingshen said as he pulled a pair of sunglasses from the glove compartment and put them on, the reflection of the lenses hiding the emotions in his eyes.

"Ooh, what's this about?" Zhang Fan leaned over and nudged his arm with his elbow. "Not calling her 'Mom' so affectionately anymore? It's only been how long, and you've switched to calling her 'Ms. Tang'? Did you have a falling out with your mom?"

"No." Gu Jingshen turned the steering wheel, his tone stiff.

"Really?" Zhang Fan leaned in closer, his nose almost touching Gu Jingshen's shoulder. "Tsk, like I don't know you. You two must have had another spat. Seriously, your mom is truly good to you. If I had a mom like that, I'd be happy to death."

Gu Jingshen's lips twitched as if a soft spot had been hit, and his voice softened a bit. "I know she's good to me."

He paused, his sunglasses sliding to the tip of his nose to reveal eyes that were a bit helpless. "But lately, she's been arranging blind dates for me every day. I saw three in one day last Saturday. She keeps saying things like 'the Gu family lineage must not be broken,' it's annoying as hell."

"Hahaha!" Zhang Fan laughed so hard he slapped his thigh, making the seat creak. "The great Young Master Gu has a day like this too? You deserve it! Who told you to change girlfriends more often than clothes? Auntie is just afraid you'll go too far."

"Get lost!" Gu Jingshen reached out to cover Zhang Fan's mouth, nearly swerving the car. "Laugh again and I'll dump you on the side of the road to feed the dogs!"

"No, no, no!" Zhang Fan laughed and dodged, reaching out to tickle Gu Jingshen's armpit. "Seriously though, did you find any suitable ones? Let me give you some advice."

"Advice my ass!" Gu Jingshen dodged left and right, the car weaving an S-shape on the road, drawing protest honks from nearby drivers.

The two of them bantered all the way until the car stopped in front of the Gu Group building. Zhang Fan called Tang Wanqing, and she remained silent for a moment after listening. "I'll have Lawyer Wang wait for you in the meeting room. He'll bring a team over."

"Sorry for the trouble, Aunt Tang."

"Don't be so polite with me." Tang Wanqing's voice softened. "If you need help, just ask. Don't be like that brat Gu Jingshen, always keeping things bottled up."

After hanging up, Gu Jingshen curled his lip. "My mom is just biased; she treats you better than me."

"That's because I'm more sensible than you." Zhang Fan pushed open the car door. "Coming up?"

Gu Jingshen leaned back against the seat and shook his head slightly, his voice lazy. "No, I'll wait for you here."

Zhang Fan didn't ask further and closed the door behind him.

Lawyer Wang was already waiting in the meeting room with two assistants, a printed contract template on the table. "Mr. Zhang, you mean you want to sign a supplemental agreement with Blue Whale to clarify payment terms and liability for breach of contract?"

"Yes." Zhang Fan nodded. "If they want me to fix the BUG, they have to pay half the amount first, with the rest settled after acceptance. Also, it must be stated that 'the code shall not be unilaterally modified or cracked,' otherwise, a triple penalty for breach of contract must be paid."

Lawyer Wang quickly revised the agreement, his wording showing a seamless rigor. "This way, even if they try to pull something, we have a legal basis to hold them accountable."

As Zhang Fan was putting away the agreement, his phone suddenly rang. It was an unknown number from Jiang City.

He picked up, and Chang Yuan's deliberately softened voice came through the receiver. "Zhang Fan, I am Chang Yuan. About what CEO Allen told you yesterday... are you free today?"

Zhang Fan leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the table. "Not free. I just finished a project at Digital Power and I'm busy."

"Don't be like that, Zhang Fan." Chang Yuan's voice was placating, even a bit humble. "I know I was wrong before. Can I make it up to you? Feifei and I will apologize to you in person. I'll even kneel if you want me to!"

"No need." Zhang Fan's voice turned cold. "Director Chang isn't sincerely apologizing; you're just afraid of losing your job, aren't you?"

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end, followed by Chang Yuan's hurried breathing. "Yes, I admit I'm afraid... but I really want to make amends. Zhang Fan, I'm begging you, come to the company and fix the BUG. CEO Allen said he won't treat you poorly."

"Won't treat me poorly?" Zhang Fan laughed. "Do you mean the 2.5 million, or your apology?"

"Both! Both!" Chang Yuan said hurriedly. "CEO Allen has agreed to all the terms you set. As long as you come over, we'll sign the agreement and transfer the money immediately."

Zhang Fan looked at the heavy traffic outside the window and sneered inwardly. Allen had a good plan — let Chang Yuan be the scapegoat to stabilize him, and once the BUG was fixed, find any excuse to default. After all, 2.5 million was no small sum, especially at the critical moment when the chairman had just returned; Allen would never let go easily.

"Alright then." Zhang Fan intentionally drawled. "Since you're being so sincere, I'll head over this afternoon. But let me be clear: if there's a penny missing, no one will be able to fix this BUG."

"Definitely, definitely!" Chang Yuan's voice sounded relieved. "I'll wait for you at the company entrance!"

After hanging up, Lawyer Wang asked, "Do we need to head over now?"

"Wait a bit longer." Zhang Fan glanced at the time. "Let them sweat for a while."