Become the richest man in the world ！！！

"You brat, what's wrong with you? Who taught you this?" I pointed at the cigarette in Guo Qing's mouth. This kid didn't smoke in my past life!

"Hehe, I just learned. What's up, boss? Want one?" Guo Qing pulled out a pack of Hongta Mountain cigarettes from his pocket.

"Nice, huh? You're smoking 10-yuan cigarettes now!" I waved my hand, refusing. I still wanted to quit smoking in this life.

"Just a gift from my underlings," Guo Qing said proudly.

"Why are you handing in your test so soon?" I asked, noticing he was right behind me in turning in his paper.

"I'm just not cut out for studying! I've already decided, once I graduate high school, I won't continue. College isn't for someone like me!" Guo Qing flicked the cigarette butt onto the ground and crushed it underfoot.

"If you're not going to school, what are you going to do?" Honestly, I hoped my best friend would walk the right path and attend a good university.

"For someone like me, studying isn't my thing. I'll have to rely on my hands and fight in society. What else can I do?" Guo Qing said with self-deprecation.

"I hope the path you choose is the right one. But no matter what, Guo Qing, you'll always be my brother, Liu Lei!" I knew that some things, once changed, couldn't be undone.

"Boss, you're my boss for life!" Guo Qing said with emotion.

"It's been a while since we ate together, right?" I said after a while.

"Let's go, old place!" Guo Qing smiled, and we both headed to the small diner we always went to when school started — Juyuan Snacks.

"Boss, stir-fry some fish-flavored shredded pork, and a cold dish. Two bottles of beer!" I said.

"Boss, you drink beer too?" Guo Qing was surprised.

I just smiled and didn't respond.

That evening, I received a call from a representative of M-Soft.

"Hello, this is a representative from M-Soft, my surname is Xu," the voice on the other end said.

Hearing that voice, I was overwhelmed with excitement. This person was my former boss, Xu Zhongbang, who was now one of the Executive Vice Presidents of M-Soft in China. When I joined M-Soft after graduation, Xu Zhongbang had already become the president, and it was because of his recognition that I was able to rise through the ranks and become the president of M-Soft China during his retirement year.

Xu Zhongbang, in my past life, was formally my superior, but in reality, we had more of a mentor-mentee relationship. As a recent graduate in the tough M-Soft environment, it was Xu Zhongbang who tirelessly helped and guided me. Without him, there wouldn't be the me today. After his retirement, I would often visit his home, and I regarded him as my mentor. But now, here I was, about to sit across from him at the negotiation table, fighting for our respective interests.

I suppressed my emotions and said calmly, "Mr. Xu, hello."

"I'm not sure if Mr. Liu is free tomorrow. Could we meet to discuss the collaboration on your operating system?" Xu Zhongbang asked.

"Alright, how about 8 AM tomorrow at the Computer Center of Songjiang University? There's a computer there that's already installed with my operating system," I replied.

I had just finished the initial work on Windows 98 in the past month and had tested it on a 586 computer in the computer lab at Songjiang University. I named my operating system Dawn 95.

Xu Zhongbang, who was about the same age as my father, was still in his prime. When I saw him, he was dressed in the same black Zhongshan suit he wore in my past life.

I walked over, extended my hand, and said, "Mr. Xu, hello! I'm the authorized agent for this collaboration, Liu Lei!"

"Oh? You know me?" Xu Zhongbang looked at me in surprise.

Ah, that's right! Xu Zhongbang wouldn't recognize me in this life. No wonder he was surprised.

"I've seen your name in reports about M-Soft," I explained.

Xu Zhongbang then understood, "I see, Mr. Liu. I didn't expect you to be so interested in M-Soft!"

His words were clearly double-edged: on the surface, he was complimenting my interest in the news, but underneath, he was subtly implying that I might be targeting M-Soft.

"Not really. I just occasionally read some tech news," I said with an awkward smile. I never expected my old boss would one day become my rival.

"I imagine Mr. Liu must have heard that we will be launching Windows 95 next year?" Xu Zhongbang asked.

"Yes, a friend of mine got me a beta version," I said.

"Oh? That's even better. Since Mr. Liu has seen it, I'm sure you understand that our graphical operating system is the most advanced in the world. I'm sure you get my meaning," Xu Zhongbang suddenly said.

What does he mean by that? Is he overestimating himself? I pretended to be confused and asked, "Mr. Xu, I'm not quite sure I understand."

"Mr. Liu, if the developer of this system is interested in joining M-Soft, we would welcome them. But there's no need to go about it this way!" Xu Zhongbang said.

Now, I understood. Xu Zhongbang had misunderstood my intentions. But I couldn't blame him. In my time at M-Soft, I often encountered people who claimed to have developed the world's most powerful system or software, hoping to grab M-Soft's attention and land a job. Of course, he might also have been testing my true intentions.

"Mr. Xu, I think we should first take a look at the operating system before drawing any conclusions," I smiled and said.

"Alright," Xu Zhongbang agreed, and we entered the computer lab at Songjiang University.

I turned on the 586 computer that had my Dawn 95 operating system installed, and after the familiar self-check screen, it loaded the startup screen I had designed — a gray-white sea gradually brightening with the first light of dawn. At the top, there were a few Chinese characters: "Dawn Windows Operating System 95."

In fact, my startup screen looked like an animation, but technically, the dawn effect on the sea and the progress bar during boot were based on similar technology to Windows 98 — just presented in a different way. But mine was more visually appealing.

At first, Xu Zhongbang seemed dismissive, but when he saw the interface, which resembled Windows 95 but was more beautiful and user-friendly, he was left speechless.

"Try it out, Mr. Xu," I said. I had anticipated his reaction — this was an improved version of Windows 98.

Xu Zhongbang nervously picked up the mouse with trembling hands and opened "My Computer."

As the Executive Vice President of M-Soft China, Xu Zhongbang was very familiar with the upcoming features of Windows 95. Yet, the operating system he was now using far surpassed Windows 95 both in terms of interface and functionality.

"My God! I need to meet the developer of this system!" Xu Zhongbang said excitedly.

"I think that won't be necessary. The developer is a high-ranking official at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and isn't available for public appearances. I'm sure Mr. Xu understands the reasons behind that," I said.

"Oh! I understand!" Xu Zhongbang said, disappointed. "Mr. Liu, please give me half an hour. I need to call the headquarters right away! This is just too incredible!"

"Okay," I said, still maintaining a calm demeanor.

Xu Zhongbang hurried out to make the call. I didn't care what they were talking about; what mattered was that the system was in my hands, meaning I held the initiative. I could decide how much it was worth and what terms to set.

Almost an hour later, Xu Zhongbang finally returned. When he came back, I was bored, playing the Lianliankan game that came bundled with Dawn 95. It was one of the popular office desktop games later on, along with others like Bejeweled, Bubble Shooter, and more.

Upon seeing it, Xu Zhongbang immediately exclaimed, "Who added this game? It's amazing! Far more addictive than the desktop games we include!"

Heh, of course it's more addictive. If you saw the computers in offices and agencies later on, you'd understand the value those games brought. All I did was add them to Dawn 95 in advance.

"I've contacted headquarters, Mr. Liu. You can name your price!" Xu Zhongbang was very aware of the system's value. After speaking with headquarters, the shock over there was no less than his. They were willing to buy the system at any cost, and if that wasn't possible, they'd settle for a collaboration—anything to avoid turning this into a competitor situation. Bill, the president of M-Soft, had already booked a flight, and he would probably arrive at Songjiang International Airport tomorrow morning. Xu Zhongbang knew the gravity of the situation—if he failed, he couldn't bear the blame. So, after a brief exchange, he got straight to the point and began to inquire about the price.

"So, how much do you think it's worth?" I didn't answer him directly and instead asked.

"Huh?" Xu Zhongbang was taken aback. He hadn't expected me to respond this way. He thought I would just state my asking price, even if it was outrageous. Once I named a price, he figured he could negotiate.

"Mr. Xu, do you think this operating system has a price?" I continued to throw him off with more smoke screens.

"Has a price? What do you mean? Does Mr. Liu not want to sell it?" Xu Zhongbang was even more confused.

"Yes! The operating system isn't for sale, but we can explore another way to cooperate!" I said in a firm tone.

When Xu Zhongbang heard I was open to cooperation, his previously swirling thoughts quickly settled down. If the system wasn't for sale, there was no point in forcing it. As long as cooperation was possible, his task would still be accomplished.

"I'm not sure how Mr. Liu plans to cooperate?" Xu Zhongbang asked.

"My conditions might be hard for you to approve..." I felt a bit reluctant to make my demands clear to my old boss.

"Here's the thing, our president, Bill, is already on his way to China. If Mr. Liu has special requests, he can discuss them directly with him," Xu Zhongbang said.

"Alright. Have him call me once he arrives," I replied. Then, I took out over 100 3.5-inch floppy disks from my bag and handed them to Xu Zhongbang. "These are the installation disks for Dawn 95. You can show them to your president."

Xu Zhongbang hurriedly took the disks. He had been about to bring up this issue himself, but he knew that such details had to be kept confidential until an agreement was reached, so he hadn't said anything.

I knew Xu Zhongbang well enough to trust that he wouldn't steal the results of my work (though it seemed like I was doing just that). Besides, I had encrypted everything, and I didn't believe their current technology could break into the source code.

"Mr. Liu, this is our president, Mr. Bill," Xu Zhongbang said, pointing to a young-looking, blonde man.

"Hello, Mr. Bill," I greeted him in fluent, slightly American-accented English. How could I not recognize the president of M-Soft from my past life?

"Oh? Mr. Liu speaks English?" Bill asked, surprised.

"Just a little," I smiled. Of course, I could speak English. After all, I had interacted with him frequently in my past life.

"Well then, Mr. Liu, please go ahead and state your conditions," Bill said.

"I won't sell the operating system's copyright, but I can grant M-Soft the license to sell it. Additionally, I can promise to allow M-Soft to participate in the development of the next version of the Dawn operating system," I started by outlining the benefits M-Soft would receive.

"What kind of return are you looking for, then?" Bill wasn't foolish. He knew I had already presented the benefits, but I hadn't yet stated what I was expecting in return.

"50% of the operating system's profits! This number is non-negotiable," I said. I didn't like to haggle.

"50%? That's too much!" Bill exclaimed.

"Too much? If it weren't for China's current economic system, I could easily set up my own company and sell it myself. I wouldn't need to share the pie with anyone," I replied.

"But you don't have patents for things like the graphical user interface!" Bill pointed out.

"Exactly, that's one of the reasons I'm seeking cooperation with you. But it's not the main reason, because patents registered in the U.S. aren't valid in China!" I explained slowly. At this time, China hadn't yet joined the WTO, so many things were not aligned with the rest of the world. In other words, even if Chinese products copied foreign ones, they couldn't lose a lawsuit!

"Alright! I agree, but you must make the source code public!" Bill gritted his teeth as he said it. He wasn't overly concerned with money; to him, money was just a number. What excited him more was the technology.

"That's fine. I'll also keep my promise. The next version of the Dawn operating system will be jointly developed by us," I said. I had spent over a month sleepless writing this system. Afterward, I wasn't planning to do it again. Even though I was technically guaranteed a long life, I knew that too much stress could still lead to aging prematurely. It would be more comfortable to play it cool and let them handle most of the work. I would just provide the key technology.

Afterward, we agreed that M-Soft would release Windows 95 ahead of schedule in December this year, and Dawn 95 would be delayed until 1996, with the version number changed to Dawn Windows 97. M-Soft also agreed to give me 30% of the profits from Windows 95 as compensation for the delayed release. Windows 95 would also be renamed Dawn Windows 95.

Once the contract was signed and notarized, it was nearly 8 PM. Xu Zhongbang invited me to dinner, but I declined. I had been getting home late every day recently, and my mother was starting to get suspicious. My father was no better, always asking indirect questions like whether I had been to the arcade again.

Haha, I had struck it rich! 30% and 50%! A new world's richest person was about to be born. I hummed a little tune as I strolled down the street.