The He family ancestral home.

After each semester vacation, the underage members of the He family must go back to the old family house to stay with the grandparents for a period of time. This was a rule accumulated by generations of the He family. So no matter how unwilling He Qianmin was to appear in the same place as He Qianjian, when summer vacation came, he was still sent to the old family house by his parents.

He Qianyang, who was a junior in college this year, also returned to the old family house. He Qianmin had a good relationship with He Qianyang and so he spent most of the time with He Qianyang, while He Qianjian was off busying himself with who knows what, most of the time spent in his room. As a result, the week passed without any commotion.

At noon, He Qianyu ran upstairs and knocked on the door one by one.

“Brother Qian Yang, Second Brother! It’s time to eat!”

After knocking on this side, she went to knock on the next door: “Eldest Brother it’s time to eat!”

In the room, He Qianmin held on to the game controller and kept his eyes fixed on the screen, saying, “I’ll definitely win this game.”

“That’s not necessarily true.” He Qianyang raised his eyebrows.

“F**k! How did you send out your left uppercut and cross kick?” He Qianmin manipulated his yellow character, frowning and said: “Why can I only uppercut every time, and not do more at the same time.”

“This is my unique skill. Maybe you’ll be able to learn it after a few hundred years of practice.”

When the two were talking, a voice sounded from the other room, “Wait for me, I’ll go down immediately.”

He Qianmin pursed his lips when he heard the voice, and his character in the game fought more intensely.

He Qianyang laughed: “What’s going on with you and He Qianjian.”

“Same as always.”

“I remember you liked him very much when you were younger.” He Qianyang said: “I just went to a university and didn’t come back for two years, and you two are like this. At that time I thought you two had a fight. It’s been a year since, why are you two still like this.”

At the end of the game, the yellow character fell to the ground, and the red character waved in victory.

He Qianmin threw away the game controller, expressionless: “I can’t tell you.”

“Talk to this brother.” He Qianyang also put down the game controller, hooked and arm over He Qianmin’s shoulder and said, “What was the irreconcilable conflict that made you two become like enemies.”

“Conflict?” He Qianmin sneered: “He wants to kill me, is this considered a conflict?”

He Qianyang was taken aback for a moment, and his expression gradually became serious: “Qian Min, some things can’t be said indiscriminately, even if…..”

“I know.” He Qianmin stood up and said, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me, I’m used to it, as long as I know what kind of person he is then it’s fine.”

He Qianyang also stood up, put his hand on He Qianmin’s shoulder, looked down at him and said, “Qian Min, it’s not that I don’t believe you, but I think there is some misunderstanding here. If it was because of that car accident, the psychiatrist also said…..”

“Because I was jealous of him that my brain tampered with my memory?” He Qianmin waved He Qianyang’s hand away, took a deep breath, and said, “Brother, you said before that when I was younger, I had a very good relationship with He Qianjian. You can be regarded as having watched me grow up, so I want to ask you, do you really think I’m jealous of him?”

He Qianyang recalled how He Qianmin ran after them happily when he was a child, and fell silent.

“I may be jealous of everyone, but never my family.” He Qianmin paused and said: “I am a member of the He family, I am not so petty, not so narrow-minded, so I am not jealous of my own brother and like to get into fights with him everywhere, confronting him tit for tat, jealous to the point of making up lies to slander him.”

He Qianyang looked into his clear eyes, which were honest and sincere, and he could see to the bottom at a glance, the exhaustion and anger in his eyes.

He Qianmin snorted lightly: “It’s been three years…..”

For three years, everyone had been careful not to mention that car accident in front of him, as if mentioning it would stimulate his sensitive nerves, and they would hear the nonsense he imagined, as if as long as they don’t mention it, the car accident that year would be buried in memory. Except for the daily fights between him and He Qianjian, everything was no different from before the car accident.

“Min Min.” He Qianyang called He Qianmin by his pet name, and said in a low voice: “I watched you grow up, so I naturally know what kind of person you are, and the same goes for Uncle and Aunt, don’t they also understand you? “

“Everyone was very sad about the car accident that year. Everyone went to verify what you said after you woke up. The driver at that time didn’t even remember where you were sitting, and the person who rescued you later didn’t know what the situation was at that time. Apart from you and He Qianjian, no third person knew the truth of the matter, and there was no evidence to prove that either of you was telling the truth, so everyone could only accept the most acceptable and logical reason.”

“So——” He Qianmin sneered: “I have to get along well with the person who wants to kill me, so I have to maintain the illusion of brotherhood and friendship, so that everyone can feel at ease?”

He Qianyang slapped him on the head, and said: “So, if you want people to believe you, you have to find evidence and witnesses by yourself. Didn’t you say that a boy saved you? Then my dad sent people to find him but couldn’t find any sign, he should be from Yan City, go check it out, maybe he knows the truth.”

He Qianmin was startled, and the conversation at the hotpot restaurant with Jiang Chen came to mind.

“Are you really the big brother who saved me at that time?”

“At that time you grabbed my clothes, and seemed very scared, as if you wanted to say something.” Jiang Chen pursed his lips, a little distressed and apologetic: “I’m sorry, I had some urgent matters at home at that time, so I left you in the hands of others.”

Jiang Chen obviously did nothing wrong, he was the one who saved him, but even so, he still felt sincerely guilty for not comforting him and listening to him at that time. If such a warm and kind person was really called to come to testify for what happened back then, if He Qianjian finds out, with his means…..

“He…..is not in Yan City anymore.” He Qianmin turned his head away, and said calmly: “I have looked for him, he has left Yan City, and now I don’t know where he is.”

“Then do you want me to check it for you?”

“Forget it.”

“Okay, then let’s go downstairs for dinner.”

He Qianmin walked to the window and said, “I’ll stay for a while, you go down first.”

He Qianyang glanced at him, sighed from the bottom of his heart, and said, “Come down soon.”

The door was gently closed, and He Qianmin took out his mobile phone. He opened the text message app and sent out a text.

[Big Brother, where are you, want to come out to play this afternoon?]

After a while, Jiang Chen replied: [I have something to do in the afternoon, maybe a few days later.]

He Qianmin’s eyes dimmed: [Ok.]

[Remember to do the Olympiad problem set I gave you last time, one a day, if you don’t understand anything, ask me.]

He Qianmin stared at the quickly replied message on the screen for a full ten seconds, then leaned back on the pillow. It took a long time before he finally replied: [Okay….]

After waiting for about a minute without Jiang Chen replying, he put down his phone and went downstairs. He Qianmin walked out of the room but just as he reached the stairs, he heard a vague voice coming from He Qianjian’s room. He was about to leave immediately, but after hearing a faint word, he changed direction.

He Qianmin walked to the door, leaned gently against the wooden door, and listened carefully to the voices inside.

He Qianjian was probably on the phone. The old family house was a century-old courtyard house, and the sound insulation was not good. He could hear the voice clearly when he stuck close to the door.

“…..’s warehouse, there are few people and it’s remote.”

“How much you want has nothing to do with me, and what I do is not your business, just do your own thing.”

“Call the police? You are her younger brother. Her own family just want to take their nephew out for a few days, how can it be regarded as kidnapping. If you are afraid, then forget it. You can find another way to collect the 300,000 yuan.”

“It’s good you know, whether your family can be well, depends on this one time.”

He Qianmin’s eyes flickered slightly, and after hearing He Qianjian’s footsteps, he quickly retreated to his room, and only after the sound of the door opening and the sound of going downstairs could be heard outside, did his tense jaw relax.

However, after relaxing, there was only one question on his mind:

——Who did He Qianjian want to kidnap?

Jiang Chen had been helping Huo Bo with his studies all afternoon, and after finishing up, they had dinner outside together. It was almost ten o’clock by the time they returned home.

Jiang Zhuo would be discharged from the hospital in a few days and finally come home. Yang Si had been running to and back from the hospital these few days, taking care of everything, getting up early and going to bed early every day. When Jiang Chen came home, there was only a single light left on in the living room, and all the other lights in the house were turned off.

Jiang Chen washed up without making amy noise, then turned off the living room light and returned to his own room, ready to start that night’s work.

Some time ago, he and 196 completed the business of strengthening the firewall. At that time, 196 said that they would need their help for later maintenance, but Jiang Chen installed a small program in the firewall that only he could crack, so post-maintenance was almost non-existent.

Probably because of this, the boss of that Internet company trusted them very much, and introduced him to two other businesses again through 196, both also for strengthening the firewall. Jiang Chen read the information and took it. In addition to the 170,000 yuan at the beginning, there were now about three million yuan in his deposit.

After having this money, Jiang Chen no longer accepted business, as long as the money was enough, he had more important things to do.

Jiang Chen put on the earphones and turned on the computer.

A male voice without much warmth sounded in the earphones: “Dylan, the database has been automatically completed to 15.785%, and the estimated time to reach 99% is eighteen months. The last 1% needs to be manually completed, and the estimated time is five years.”

Jiang Chen said: “I see, after you level up, your grabbing speed will increase, so don’t worry.”

“Okay, I’ll recalculate after the upgrade.”

He paused and said, “Help me open the Wingnet.”

Web pages and codes jumped in front of his eyes, and Jiang Chen sat quietly, a little lost in thought.

For a moment just now, he almost thought that in this slightly clunky computer there existed Changjiang, the AI who was developed by him in the previous, who would collect jokes voluntarily, had human-like emotions, and often complained that his voice did not sound good.

Suddenly, the voice sounded again in the earphone: “Dylan, Wingnet has been opened, you have three messages, all from 196, do you want to check it?”

“Open it.” Jiang Chen came back to his senses and put his fingers on the keyboard.

[196: Great God…..you haven’t accepted business recently. That boss Huang bombed me badly. He called me every day, the price has even doubled, and the person even almost came to my school. But don’t worry, I rejected all for you.]

[196: Before, I thought that making 1.2 million yuan on an order was a steal, but later when I asked a senior brother, I learned that we were simply cheap workers! Great God, you were right not to continue taking orders.]

[196: Great God, when will you log on, please message me back, actually I have something I want to discuss with you.]

Jiang Chen saw the last message and typed:

[D: What’s the matter?]

A response came very quickly:

[196: Great God! You are here!]

[196: It’s like this. I told you before that I’m a student in the computer science department of Yan University. A professor in our department told me that the National Cyber Security Agency seems to be recruiting people. As long as you pass the political review and assessment they will accept all no matter their education or age. So I’m thinking about whether to give it a try…..]

[D: Do you want to go?]

[196: Yes! It’s the National Cyber Security Agency! But I’m only a junior, and I don’t focus on this aspect in my studies, so I guess even if I go, it’ll just be to boaden my horizons.]

[D: Go if you want.]

[196: The Great God said so! I have the courage! I go!]

Jiang Chen smiled and closed the dialog box. At the same time, there was a voice in the headset saying, “Someone tried to hack into your computer a second ago.”

After the words landed, a bell icon flickered in the lower right corner of the screen, and Jiang Chen clicked on it.

[G: God D, what is your computer firewall stacked up with, there is no gap at all, now I can’t even send pop-up windows.]

Ever since Jiang Chen occupied the “D” rank, he was automatically drawn into a chat group. There were only 26 people in it. It was self-evident who they were, but the chat group was usually very deserted, and the most active ones were G and C, and G was the only person Jiang Chen had privately chatted with besides 196.

The two chatted for the first time in the middle of the night. Jiang Chen was writing a program when an electronic cockroach suddenly crawled out from the corner of his computer screen. It not only crawled around in his screen, but also swallowed his code. After which it spat out a pop up window box with the words: Nice to meet you, I’m G.

It was also this small episode that Jiang Chen accelerated his plan to restart Changjiang’s development, and roughly made the Changjiang’s system firewall within a month. Although it was only a rough version of the Changjiang system in the interstellar era, not even half comparable to the original Changjiang 1.0, still no one could hack into his computer in this day and age.

[G: This time I didn’t send those boring things! I really have something to show you! real! Believe me!]

Since he knew G, Jiang Chen, who had a deep understanding of his bad taste, would really rather pass.

[D: Not interested.]

[G: Come on! Absolutely fun! I promise! I couldn’t believe it when I saw it! Supernatural scenes, understand?]

Before Jiang Chen answered, G sent another message quickly.

[G: If it’s not supernatural or you’re not shocked, I promise I won’t harass you for a month, how about it?]

[D: Deal.]

“Changjiang, allow external pop-up windows to pop up.”

After Jiang Chen finished speaking, a blurry surveillance image appeared on the screen.

There were probably a group of children at a party, some sitting and talking together in twos and threes, and some playing billiards or games on the side, nothing special.

Just as Jiang Chen was about to close the pop-up window, he saw a familiar figure appear on the screen. He paused and sat up straight.

Three teenagers were laughing and walking towards the drink area. One of them seemed to have told some joke, one of them punched him with a smile, and the other reached out to get a drink while saying something. At this moment, the picture froze for a moment. On the table full of cups and glasses, there was a sharp and upright fruit knife.

Jiang Chen subconsciously slowed down his breathing. In the screen, He Qianmin didn’t look at the beverage table at all, and directly grabbed the blade of the fruit knife. After three or four seconds, he lowered his head belatedly, and saw that the palm of his hand was cut open with the knife.

The video ended here, and the pop-up window disappeared automatically. Jiang Chen’s hand on the table slowly fisted, his eyes flickering. Knowing it was one thing, seeing it with his own eyes was another.

[G: How about it? Supernatural or not? I just said you would be shocked. I heard from my friends that the clubhouse was decorated really nice. I was bored, so I went to look at the interior of the clubhouse from the surveillance camera to find inspiration. Who knew that I stumbled upon this from their surveillance camera. I have checked it, it is the original monitoring, but somehow it was deleted. It’s a good thing I am used to sneaking into other people’s backup folders that I could see it. Shocking, right?]

G typed a long paragraph on the screen, and the light from the computer hit Jiang Chen’s face. He lowered his eyes and typed:

[D: Send me a copy of this video, and I will definitely return the favor so long as I can.]

[G: What were you talking about, bro?]

[G: It’s just a surveillance video, I’ll send it to you if you want it, and I’ve saved a few copy in my archives as well. It’s quite exciting to think about it, it’s rare to actually see this kind of thing in real life.]

While G was typing, Jiang Chen also received the surveillance video. He clicked on it to watch again and then replied:

[D: Thanks.]

[G: You’re welcome, next time there is a good video, this buddy will share it with you.]

Jiang Chen closed the dialog box, stood up and walked to the window. He quietly looked out of the window for an unknown amount of time before turning back to the computer desk.

As soon as he sat down, the phone on the table rang.

“D, we found out about the Daoist priest.”

Jiang Chen: “Speak.”

“He is just an ordinary Daoist priest who traveled with a monk. The monk stayed in Yunlin Temple for a while before. We didn’t find where the Daoist priest came from. But it seems that he came out of a certain mountain valley. The two of them traveled from the south to the north. The both of them told fortunes all the way, but one thing, the Daoist priest seems to have some true skills, as long as it is a person who he told fortune to, it was all bizarrely accurate, but he himself said that he only tell the fortunes of people who has an affinity with him. He never accepts money, and his whereabouts are uncertain, so it’s hard to find him.”

“If that’s the case, don’t look for him anymore. I’ll send you an address later, check if anyone went to that clubhouse to delete the monitoring on May 22.”

“Got it.”

Jiang Chen asked, “Is there anything else?”

“The man named Yang Tianci who I checked earlier seemed to be in debt to usury, and he was chased by debt collectors yesterday. He contacted He Qianjian at noon today, and he seemed to be looking for He Qianjian’s help.”

“How to help?”

“I don’t know their specific plan, but the people under He Qianjian are looking for an abandoned factory. I don’t know what they want to use the factory for. Maybe they want to kidnap someone.”

“Kidnapping?”

“Just a guess.”

“I see.”

After hanging up the call, Jiang Chen put the phone on the table, but then picked it up again after a few seconds, clicked on the address book, and made a call.