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A lump formed in Chu Ning’s chest. How to describe this feeling? A bit of disappointment, a bit of frustration, and a bit...of unfinished business.
Ying Jing had already let her go, standing up and pacing back and forth to organize his thoughts: “At the dormitory entrance—that’s right, I saw him with Luo Jia.”
Chu Ning furrowed her brow, “Slow down. What are you saying?”
“Today, this man was wearing a work uniform with the company name on it. Do you remember?”
“Some software company, right?”
“Yes!”
“But that doesn’t prove anything.” Chu Ning pointed out objectively.
Ying Jing didn’t refute, just said, “Let me use your computer.”
Chu Ning pointed to the bedroom: “Go ahead.”
Ying Jing dashed in, opened the computer, and searched Baidu for the company’s name. After sifting through several items, he finally exclaimed, “This company was exposed three or four years ago for undertaking some shady business.”
“Such as?”
“Hacking techniques, malicious attacks on competitors’ core systems causing system crashes and delaying work progress.” Ying Jing tried to explain in simple terms for Chu Ning.
His emotions were starting to rise; opening this breach allowed all the causes and effects to link together.
Chu Ning doused him with cold water, “Without factual evidence, how can you suspect?”
“How can you not suspect!”
“So what are you going to do? Rally the school to report? Post a big-character poster to tell everyone about their crimes?” Chu Ning retorted coldly, “Where’s the evidence?”
Ying Jing was speechless.
“If you don’t have solid proof and blurt this out, full of loopholes, it’s easiest to be overturned and ridiculed.”
Chu Ning was almost furious, “After bringing you along for so long, you still don’t grasp the most basic principles?”
Ying Jing scratched his head, turning his face aside, unable to hide his reluctance.
Chu Ning calmed him down, suggesting, “You stay put first, go over everything again, find the weakest point in the chain, then contact professionals in this field to analyze and corroborate. Understand?”
Reluctantly, Ying Jing grunted an acknowledgment.
Chu Ning walked over, closing the computer he was still browsing.
“I’m not joking with you. If something happens again and your reputation is damaged, our project will face more difficulties in the future.”
Ying Jing was momentarily bewildered but quickly grasped the gravity of the situation.
He had calmed down and nodded, “I’ll listen to you.”
But once back at school, after sorting things out, Ying Jing became increasingly suspicious the more he thought about it.
The next day, he called out Wan Pengpeng, who was studying computer science, early in the morning. Ying Jing didn’t say much specifically, only proposed a few assumptions, asking, “Is it possible to attack the laboratory’s system?”
Although Pengpeng was only a freshman, his knowledge base was advanced, and he was steady and reliable. His opinions were very referential.
He honestly replied, “Your assumptions aren’t impossible, but the feasibility is too low. Analyzing the environment and objective conditions when the lab incident occurred—it’s hard.”
Ying Jing puffed his cheeks, his mind in turmoil.
“However, if this thing was planned a long time ago,” Pengpeng thought for a moment, “for example, copying the lab system’s thread code and then handing it over for people to study and analyze to find server vulnerabilities. You know, system vulnerabilities aren’t that unfathomable. Once found, loading an attack isn’t as difficult as imagined. Of course, this assumption is highly idealistic.”
Ying Jing asked, “What if the person is a genius?”
Pengpeng: “...”
“The probability of geniuses in this line of work is relatively high.” Ying Jing exhaled, completely fixated on this idea.
“If your condition holds true, then there must be an insider working from the inside.” Pengpeng suddenly stopped, realizing the horror of it. He and Ying Jing exchanged glances silently, tacitly acknowledging the name: Luo Jia.
“Besides us and a few specialized teachers, those who usually have the most access to the lab include him. Moreover, I’ve seen him with this man.” Ying Jing meticulously analyzed, leaving out personal grievances—there were plenty of them.
Pengpeng: “If it really is him, then he must have a transmission medium to copy the target system’s code, allowing the other party to find a vulnerability. Discovering just one unpatched update makes everything possible.”
Ying Jing looked at him, asking, “Which floor does Luo Jia live on?”
“Floor five of Building A.” Pengpeng understood, “Are you thinking...”
Ying Jing confirmed.
“But this is just speculation; we don’t have much certainty.” Pengpeng had reservations, “There are many people from their department on the fifth floor. If caught red-handed, it wouldn’t sound good.”
“Do the rumors now sound good?” Ying Jing spoke resolutely, “If I didn’t do it, then I didn’t do it. I won’t take the fall for anyone.”
Ying Jing came from a red family with upright family values, neither provoking trouble nor fearing it. The word “execution” could rank in the top three family rules.
He wasn’t some small cannon, but neither was he a pushover.
Luo Jia’s dormitory was a mixed one, with four roommates from different majors. Thus, class schedules weren’t unified. Ying Jing found out through someone that on Wednesday evening, Luo Jia and two other roommates had classes, so unless unexpected, only one person would be in the dormitory.
Coincidentally, this person’s classmate knew Zhang Huaiyu. Ying Jing arranged for Zhang Huaiyu to call this roommate down to the dormitory building at eight-thirty.
Pengpeng’s major was computer science, so he and Ying Jing acted together.
One stood guard while the other searched Luo Jia’s laptop.
Ying Jing stood guard at the fifth-floor entrance, checking the time: eight-twenty.
Pengpeng brought a USB drive, which was essentially a toolkit. First, it could crack the password to start Luo Jia’s computer. Then, through program installation, they could scan all the server fragments of its files.
Estimated time: fifteen minutes.
Ying Jing kept checking his watch intermittently.
At this time, it was relatively quiet on the floor. Those attending class, going to the library, or playing games in the dorm were few.
Just as they thought everything was proceeding smoothly, Zhang Huaiyu called: “Hurry up! Luo Jia is coming up!”
Ying Jing frowned, how could this be?
“One of their evening classes was canceled!”
Ying Jing peeked from the stairwell, hearing faint footsteps getting closer and louder laughter.
Damn!
Ying Jing dashed towards Luo Jia’s dorm, barging in, “Pengpeng, let’s go!”
Pengpeng, wearing frameless glasses, focused and calm, “Ten more seconds.”
The file copy progress bar was stuck at 99%.
Zhang Huaiyu’s text simultaneously arrived: “On the second floor!”
At this moment, someone knocked on Luo Jia’s door: “Knock knock knock. Knock knock knock.”
Ying Jing stood by the door, silent.
Soon, the knocking stopped, and a puzzled voice from outside said, “Strange, wasn’t the door open just now?”
Almost losing it, Ying Jing whispered, “Pengpeng!”
“Done!”
Pengpeng pulled out the USB drive, quickly shoving the computer back into place.
Ying Jing first cracked the door slightly, confirming no one was around, then yanked it open, sprinting like a hundred-meter dash with Pengpeng.
The noise from upstairs grew louder.
Ying Jing grabbed the handrail, leaping five steps at a time. They had to reach the fourth floor before Luo Jia reached the third floor!
“Who did you bet with today, saying maybe the professor would give us another holiday.”
“Who said that, might as well drag him out to buy lottery tickets.”
Luo Jia and his classmates appeared laughing and chatting, single-shouldering their backpacks, emerging from the staircase junction. At this point, a companion nudged Luo Jia’s hand. Luo Jia raised his head, his expression quickly sobering.
Face-to-face, Ying Jing and Pengpeng calmly descended the stairs.
Seeing him, they didn’t spare a glance, “Excuse me.”
Luo Jia didn’t move, asking, “What are you doing here?”
Ying Jing chuckled, “Did you build this building?”
Luo Jia choked, his face even worse.
Pengpeng, on the other hand, looked innocently harmless, having removed his frameless glasses, appearing like a pure and innocent junior, “We’re looking for Sun Heng.”
Sun Heng was his classmate, a fellow countryman studying a different major, with a dorm conveniently on the fourth floor.
Ying Jing descended the stairs. Luo Jia stood firm, unmoving.
They locked horns.
Finally, someone else came down, and Luo Jia slightly stepped aside, giving way.
Finally, they exited the building.
Feeling the night breeze, Ying Jing realized his back was slightly damp.
Finding a secluded spot, Pengpeng handed Ying Jing the USB drive: “The copy is complete.”
Ying Jing clenched his fist, nodding, “Good. I’ve already contacted my senior. Tomorrow, I’ll go to Tsinghua to find him. Hopefully, the research won’t take too long.”
“If any program was loaded onto the computer, there will definitely be traces.” Pengpeng said, “Machines are more truthful than people. If something was done, it will leave a mark.”
Ying Jing smiled, “Thank you for your hard work.”
“We’re a team; it’s what we should do.” Pengpeng asked again, “What if… if nothing is found?”
Ying Jing was certain: “It won’t happen.”
However, not long after they returned to the dormitory, Luo Jia stormed in furiously.
He made a racket, directly confronting Ying Jing: “Did you enter my dorm and mess with my computer?”
Ying Jing had just showered, dressed in fresh loungewear, speaking indifferently, “Be careful with your words.”
“Don’t pretend to be innocent!” Luo Jia’s urgency and agitation couldn’t be concealed.
Ying Jing countered with coldness, not wasting words.
“Stop.” In his desperation, Luo Jia actually grabbed Ying Jing’s shoulder, “You stole! Why did you touch my computer? Why did you touch my computer!”
“Let go of me!” With a forceful shove, Ying Jing flung him half a meter away, “What evidence do you have that I touched your computer? Huh?”
“Someone saw you.”
“Bring them out to confront me!”
Luo Jia clenched his jaw, glaring with sinister eyes, remaining silent.
Ying Jing sneered lightly, “There’s none.”
More and more onlookers gathered. Zhou Yuan and Qi Yu, who had just returned, rushed in. They shielded Ying Jing protectively, “The design department and our aviation engine department have always been separate. Now you’re repeatedly picking fights. Are you afraid of your misdeeds being known or afraid we pose a threat?”
Upon hearing this, Luo Jia laughed hysterically, “Threat? From you? For the national aerospace technology competition slot in the second half of the year, the school recommended our design project. What do you have? Hmm?”
These words poured gunpowder onto Ying Jing’s head.
But, he remained calm, not provoked in the slightest, glancing indifferently at the opponent, turned around, and left.
Contempt is the greatest rebuttal to an adversary.
When Ying Jing told Chu Ning about this, his tone couldn’t hide his pride: “I didn’t get angry, I just thought he was so childish! His snarling appearance was really ugly.”
When Chu Ning answered the phone, she had just finished a meeting, and her secretary was holding two documents for her to sign.
She wedged the phone between her ear and shoulder, signing while saying, “You used to be like how he is now.”
Ying Jing softly, “Young and ignorant, it won’t happen again.”
After signing the documents, the secretary exited the office. Chu Ning leaned back in her leather chair, pinching her brow, asking, “Did you disobey my advice again?”
Ying Jing confessed, “Yeah, I sneaked into his dorm.”
Chu Ning stopped rubbing her temples.
“But I wasn’t caught.” Ying Jing laughed.
“Laugh at your own peril.” Chu Ning scolded him.
After a pause, Ying Jing finally spoke, “You’re not me; you can’t understand. When I touch the truth, I simply can’t stop.”
Chu Ning thought for a moment, still tolerating him, only blandly saying, “Are you becoming a philosophy expert now?”
Ying Jing clung to his conviction, not bothering to argue anymore.
Such matters, those who understand, naturally do.
For those who don’t understand, no amount of explanation helps.
Chu Ning turned her leather chair toward the floor-to-ceiling window, calmly inquiring about the process.
Ying Jing was also calm, succinctly describing it in a few sentences, “I have a few seniors from high school studying computer science at Tsinghua. I’ve already asked them for help.”
Chu Ning didn’t ask further, hanging up when she suddenly called him, “You...”
“Hmm?”
“Never mind.”
After finishing the call, Chu Ning dialed Guan Yu.
Guan Yu’s voice was as flirtatious as ever, quickly answering: “Little Ning, you finally called me!”
Chu Ning rubbed her arms, “Speak properly, don’t use the same tactics you use on your boyfriend. I’m not interested.”
“I didn’t offer you anything.” Guan Yu giggled coquettishly.
“Full of dirty talk, shameless.” Chu Ning got back to business, asking, “Is your cousin in Beijing?”
“Yeah, fooling around every day.”
Guan Yu’s cousin was quite delinquent. After graduating high school, he didn’t continue studying, instead following local gangsters, claiming independence from his family. Of course, he hadn’t achieved much, but he had resources in this area.
Chu Ning steadied herself, saying, “Have him help me with something.”
Guan Yu immediately became nervous, “What happened? Did someone bully you?”
“No.” Chu Ning said, “Lend me two people.”
________________________________________
At the school.
That night, upon returning to the dorm, Luo Jia discovered someone had tampered with his computer. Connecting the dots, he guessed it was Ying Jing, but without concrete evidence, he asked everyone on the fifth floor who was present at the dormitory, and they all said they hadn’t seen him.
Luo Jia escalated the issue, directly reporting to the security office.
But the facts didn’t hold up.
Anything stolen?
No.
Was the computer equipment damaged?
...No.
Were other valuable items lost?
...
The security office dismissed him outright. Nothing was lost, so the report was useless.
Luo Jia was agitated like a headless fly. On the way back to the dorm, he coincidentally ran into Ying Jing again. His gaze was deep like a blade, while Ying Jing was calm, not sparing a glance, his chest held high.
Two days later, the senior at Tsinghua informed him of a discovery.
Ying Jing abruptly sat up from his bed, asking, “Any results?”
The other end affirmed, “Come over tomorrow and take a look.”
“No, I’m coming now.”
It was seven o’clock in the evening.
Ying Jing threw on his trench coat and rushed out.
But that night, something happened to him.
While heading from the school gate to hail a taxi by the roadside, Ying Jing was beaten up.
There were three or four attackers, even less afraid of the cold than him. In the chilly spring season, they wore sleeveless shirts and shorts, their biceps fairly developed, with tattoos. Surrounded by three of them, Ying Jing’s heart sank, seeing no way to win.
Like every gang fight, it was loud and violent.
Terrified bystanders shouted and screamed, and the nearby security office quickly rushed in to rescue. The group was soon subdued.
“Student, are you alright?” The security guard helped Ying Jing up.
Ying Jing caught his breath, rubbing his aching chest, “I’m fine.”
This wasn’t bravado; he really... wasn’t hurt much.
These hooligans looked fierce, shouting and fighting, but honestly, their punches didn’t land on him much. His chest hurt because when he retaliated, his punch was blocked, rebounding onto himself.
The hooligans were taken to the police station. Ying Jing followed to make a statement.
On the way, he first notified Qi Yu, asking if he could come over. Qi Yu, upon hearing, immediately responded, “Don’t panic, I’m coming.”
This notification brought the entire team, except for Zhang Huaiyu, a girl, to the police station.
“Little Jing! Are you hurt?”
“Not bad, rest assured.”
“My god, how terrifying, who are these people!”
“...I don’t know.”
Qi Yu furrowed his brow deeply, asking, “Did you offend someone?”
“I don’t think so.” Ying Jing touched his chest, which hurt quite a bit.
“What about those bastards?”
“They’re still in the interrogation room.”
Fifteen minutes later, a police officer came to inform them, “The suspects have admitted who sent them.”
Everyone asked in unison, “Who?”
“From your school, named Luo Jia.”
Everyone reacted with surprising calmness.
Ying Jing swallowed, saying, “Thank you, officer, I understand.”
“We will contact the school, but we still recommend a private resolution. Ultimately, the decision rests in your hands.”
A night of turmoil ended in calm.
Some procedures still needed to be completed. Ying Jing called taxis for his teammates, unsure how long it would take, so he asked them to leave first.
Initially reluctant, Ying Jing persuaded them, “This matter is fully exposed now. Go back to school, keep an eye on things for me, and let me know immediately if anything happens.”
They finally left.
By the time everything was settled, it was ten-thirty.
Ying Jing emerged from the police station with a throbbing head. Tonight’s encounter... was quite bizarre. Luo Jia was so stupid, or perhaps desperate. This proved that he definitely had something to hide.
The decryption results from his senior were also out. After organizing them into a report, he would submit it to the school. Coupled with Luo Jia’s abnormal behavior lately, especially tonight, it was a fatal blow.
However...
“Shit! How dare they hit me!” Ying Jing grew angrier the more he thought about it, “What scum!”
At this moment, two short car horn beeps sounded.
Ying Jing looked up, stunned.
At the entrance, by the roadside, a very familiar white BMW.
Chu Ning slid down the car window, tilting her head to look at him.
She must have waited a long time, still holding the last drag of a cigarette. Seeing him emerge, she extinguished it, tossing it into the car’s ashtray.
Chu Ning looked at Ying Jing, succinctly uttering two words: “Get in.”
Ying Jing was momentarily stunned, then quickly reacted, running over and opening the car door, “How did you know I was here?”
Chu Ning didn’t answer, examining him from head to toe, asking, “Are you injured?”
Ying Jing tugged at his shirt, “My fist hit my chest, I couldn’t catch my breath. I think it’s bruised.”
Chu Ning’s pupils darkened slightly but didn’t hesitate much, leaning forward directly, “Where? Let me see, how serious is it?”
Ying Jing cooperatively lifted his shirt hem. His movement was so swift that Chu Ning didn’t have time to adjust her gaze, immediately spotting those chiseled abs.
“See, isn’t it all purple?” Ying Jing obliviously continued to play the victim.
Sure enough, a large patch of blue and purple on the right side of his chest.
Chu Ning bowed her head silently, picking up her phone and dialing a number. When the other end answered, she spoke icily, without a hint of jest—
“Are you deaf? I warned you several times; count them for me. Don’t hurt him, don’t hurt him... None? Then how did this bruise appear on his chest!” Her tone sharply rose, icy and cold, devoid of any warmth.
Meanwhile, Ying Jing, amidst anxious guesses, seemed to realize something.
Chu Ning hung up the phone.
Silence for a moment.
She glanced at him, extremely calm, “No need to guess, it’s exactly what you think.”
Ying Jing’s heart was filled with shining exclamation marks.
“He framed you before, right? Well, returning the favor in kind.” Speaking of this, Chu Ning’s face was peaceful and serene, though not without regret, “It’s a pity you still got hurt.”
Finally, she looked at him, softly asking, “Does your chest hurt?”
Ying Jing swallowed, his heart filled with flashing lightning, nodding, “It hurts.”
Chu Ning was about to complain when her palm suddenly warmed, firmly grasped by Ying Jing. With a tug, he placed it on his bare right chest.
“But, if you touch it, it won’t hurt anymore.”
Chu Ning’s hand felt like it was burning.
She began to struggle.
Ying Jing frowned unhappily, “Why are you moving?”
Chu Ning turned her head, not daring to say, it wasn’t that she wanted to move—it was his pectoral muscles... why were they so... large.
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