The Ghost Payroll

In 2026, Chen Yu championed AI adoption within his company, boosting his team's efficiency by 40%. His colleagues nicknamed him “Chen the Liberator.” A year later, the 23-page warning report he had written himself sank without a trace. Two years later, standing at a layoff decision meeting, he put four documents on the screen and delivered his final words: “You're not laying people off. You're shutting down this company. Put me on the list too.” Qi Xiangdong said just one word: “Fine.” This is the story of a man who understood AI better than anyone and embraced it earlier than anyone, only to be swallowed by the AI wave. It's also the story of how a rejected proposal, a woman no one noticed, and a manual AI couldn't read ultimately proved what true value means.