The system waited three days before doing the cruel thing.
Yang Ruoqian should have expected it.
Cruelty in the system was rarely loud.
It arrived as a line item.
At nine, the panel opened without warning:
Passive venue risk moat valuation trial initiated.
Yang stopped breathing for one careful second.
"Valuation?"
The office did not answer.
The system continued:
Direct revenue: 0.
Confirmed cash savings: 0.
Avoided uncertainty: accumulating.
Supplier behavior improvement: measurable.
Competitor validation: active.
Yang stared at confirmed cash savings.
Zero.
Beautiful zero.
Then he looked at avoided uncertainty and felt the beauty rot.
"Uncertainty is not money."
The system, which had no shame, displayed:
Trial valuation pending.
Pending had returned.
At ten, finance arrived with a report that used different words and did the same damage.
"Boss Yang, we still cannot record direct savings from the venue archive."
"Good."
