The school library was unusually quiet for a Friday. Gu Ning moved between the towering shelves with the precision of a surgeon. No wasted steps. No casual glances. She was searching—hunting, really. A report from a discreet informant said that someone had been tailing her after her pitch at the youth entrepreneurship forum.
She didn't believe in coincidence. Not anymore.
Gu Ning slipped into a forgotten corner behind the business journals archive. Her phone buzzed twice—an encrypted signal. She tapped a string of numbers into her secondary device. The screen flickered.
> [Observer.0]: FENIX is trending in three private forums. Your pitch caught blood in the water.
> [Gu Ning]: They want it. Badly.
> [Observer.0]: You moved ahead of the pack. Fast. That alone will unsettle the old players.
> [Observer.0]: Stay sharp. Some won't play fair.
Gu Ning stared at the message. She didn't flinch. Then:
> [Gu Ning]: Let them try.
> [Observer.0]: Forwarding a gift. Traced five network pings routed through BlackViper's proxy. One of them's close. Too close.
She opened the file. Five names. One of them stood out.
Lu Wen.
She saved the list, encrypted it again, then switched off her device. No signs. No leaks.
---
Later that evening, Gu Ning stepped into the backroom of a rundown noodle shop three blocks from the school. A curtain of faded red beads marked the entrance to the private room. Inside, Yu Zhen sat waiting with his arms folded and a pair of smartglasses on the table. Behind him stood a girl in a black school uniform: Mei Lin, his sister.
"You're late," Yu Zhen muttered. "And our deal doesn't like delays."
Gu Ning didn't sit. "Then you shouldn't have made a deal with someone better than you."
Yu Zhen's jaw tensed. Mei Lin's eyes narrowed, but she said nothing.
Gu Ning dropped a memory card on the table. "There's the prototype. With my adjustment."
Yu Zhen picked it up slowly. "You actually modified the whole supply algorithm?"
"I rebuilt it. Your system had too many bottlenecks. You're welcome."
Mei Lin leaned forward. "You're not supposed to be this good. No one your age has access to this kind of modeling."
Gu Ning met her stare. "No one you know."
Silence stretched for several seconds.
Yu Zhen broke it. "Fine. You delivered. This gives us the edge in the regional demo next month."
Gu Ning tilted her head. "No. Me. I give me the edge. You're just going to stand on the stage with me and smile."
Mei Lin scoffed. "You're pushing your luck."
"Luck has nothing to do with it," Gu Ning said, already turning to leave. "You'll see."
---
Outside, night settled like a cold sheet across the city. Gu Ning walked briskly, head down, senses open. A shape crossed the corner of her vision.
She didn't flinch.
"Still pretending you're ordinary?"
The voice came from the alley.
Zhou Han. Shadowed, half-lit. His uniform jacket undone, a toothpick between his teeth.
"I am ordinary," Gu Ning said without stopping.
Zhou matched her pace. "Then why does the school board know your name now? Why did Principal Qi call a meeting this morning with the investment club reps and ask who 'the hell this girl Gu Ning' was?"
"Maybe they finally read my file."
"Or maybe someone's drawing too much attention."
She stopped walking. Slowly turned to face him.
"You think I'm reckless?"
"I think you're fast. Too fast. Makes people nervous."
Gu Ning's eyes glinted. "Let them be nervous."
Zhou held her gaze, then grinned faintly. "I'm not warning you. I'm interested. I want in."
Gu Ning stepped closer. "Then stop watching from the shadows. Bring something to the table, Zhou Han. Or you're just another boy with a toothpick and no plan."
He smiled wider. "Then I guess I better get a plan."
---
That night, she didn't sleep. She reviewed the data, projected market curves, adjusted the UX flow of her commerce app. Then she paused.
The city outside blinked with light, indifferent and vast.
But something stirred inside her. A pressure. A flame. The feeling she always had when something was about to shift.
In this life, she wasn't just surviving.
She was building an empire.
And the city would burn bright when she lit the match.