Chapter 31

Two more days passed in anxious, agonizing vigil.

Jin Zhaoxuan forced himself to maintain a semblance of humanity, going to work as usual, chatting casually, keeping in close contact with Liu Jianjun and Director Zhang, and constantly keeping an eye on any developments in Shenyang and the Wutian family. But the GPS coordinates of his soul were long ago welded to that buzzing living room, welded to that slowly arching curve on the screen—at a speed more touching than a snail climbing Mount Everest.

There were changes, though as subtle as a hair's breadth, but enough to give Jin Zhaoxuan's nearly dead heart a glimmer of hope. The curve fluctuated more significantly, no longer the weak, lifeless undulations of before, but with a more palpable "heartbeat" rhythm. The server logs also began to show scattered, low-level self-check and repair records. Although it was still a long way from being "booted up," it at least indicated that the "system" wasn't completely dead and was still struggling to save itself.

Jin Zhaoxuan even started performing stand-up comedy with the "lying-down" Yin Shaoqing. At first, he maintained a semblance of decorum, giving serious reports to the screen or mirror: "The Takeda family isn't causing any trouble for now." "The company got a new project, and Xiao Chen is spinning like a top." "The sun is shining brightly today; you used to always complain that the room was as gloomy as hell." Later, the style gradually veered off course, completely degenerating into a monologue of rambling thoughts:

"The fried dough sticks at the breakfast stall downstairs were fried like steel bars today, bad review."

"Brother Liu insisted that my dark circles looked like a national treasure, so he made me drink a pot of jujube water, which was so sweet it made my throat ache."

"That pothos on the windowsill seems to be sprouting new buds... You must have secretly watered it with data streams again, right?"

"..."

He would occasionally pause, waiting expectantly for a rant that would never come. Silence enveloped him like cotton, but strangely, that heart-wrenching emptiness seemed to be subtly filled a little by these trivial, one-way streams of nonsense.

He began to get into the habit of moving a chair between the server and the mirror late at night, using the screen's soft blue light to flip through a couple of pages of a book, or simply sitting there blankly, "keeping company" with the computer. Sometimes, when he was exhausted, he would doze off on the table, his dreams always filled with a hazy blue light and a sigh so soft it was almost inaudible—he didn't know if it was Yin Shaoqing's or his own.

That afternoon, he had just finished a video conference that could drive anyone crazy. Rubbing his temples, which felt like they were about to explode, he habitually glanced at the monitor screen.

The curve representing consciousness suddenly and without warning jumped upwards! It wasn't the slow, gradual climb before, but a clear and powerful "heartbeat" pulse! Immediately afterward, a new log popped up in the server status bar: [Detected that the primary perception module attempted to restart... attempting...]

Jin Zhaoxuan's heart stopped for a second, and the next second he sprang from his chair and lunged in front of the screen, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

The "Attempt to restart" message flashed a few times before finally changing to "[Primary sensing module failed to restart due to insufficient energy, returning to standby mode]".

It failed.

But Jin Zhaoxuan's heart felt like it had been thrown into boiling oil and exploded! Not from disappointment, but from ecstasy! An attempt to reboot! This meant that Yin Shaoqing's subconscious hadn't shut down and was trying to "boot up"! Like a vegetable's eyelids starting to twitch!

He yelled at the mirror, "Yin Shaoqing! Did you hear me? Keep it up! Don't back down!"

The mirror was as still as a chicken, and the curve on the screen resumed its snail-paced crawl after a brief pulse, but Jin Zhaoxuan just felt that the speed seemed, maybe, probably... a tiny bit faster? Or was he hallucinating because of his lovesickness?

Hope, like a match head secretly lit in the dark, its flame so weak it could be blown out with a breath, somehow managed to warm a small ripple in his frozen heart.

For the first time, he felt that perhaps he didn't have to wait until the seas dried up and the rocks crumbled.

However, life, that damn thing, always manages to kick you in the gut just when you've tasted a bit of sweetness.

Xiao Chen's call came in a panic, his voice cracking: "President Jin! Something's happened! The company network was attacked multiple times this morning! The attack intensity was outrageously high, the methods were as professional as a national team, and the target was clearly the encrypted server storing 'Teacher Yin's' early development logs and original data backups! Although the firewall blocked them all, this operation is on a completely different level from the previous small-scale attacks! Moreover, part of the attack source is so well-covered that even its own mother wouldn't recognize it, but in the end, several nodes point overseas, highly overlapping with the activity area of ​​that 'Global Technology Heritage Foundation'!"

Jin Zhaoxuan's eyes instantly turned icy. The Takeda family hadn't given up after all! If open tactics didn't work, they'd resort to underhanded methods! Were they planning to hack into the system and steal Yin Shaoqing's "birth certificate"? Were they trying to dissect his core code, or were they trying to plant a backdoor?

"Activate the highest level of network defense. Physically isolate all core data and disconnect from the network to ensure safety. Notify the security department to guard the company and building like an iron fortress, especially at night, so that not even a mosquito can fly in." Jin Zhaoxuan spoke quickly. "Also, check if any suspicious individuals have approached our employees recently, especially those nerdy guys in the technical department."

"They're already doing it!" Xiao Chen replied, his voice trembling. "President Jin, are they... keeping a close eye on Teacher Yin?"

“Yes.” Jin Zhaoxuan did not deny it, nor could he deny it. “Tell everyone to keep their eyes peeled and report any disturbances immediately.”

After hanging up the phone, Jin Zhaoxuan stared at Yin Shaoqing's relatively stable (by far between) health curve on the screen, a chill running from his tailbone to the top of his head. Yin Shaoqing had always been the bullseye for the Takeda family. Before, it was all sweet talk, a test from afar; now, it seemed they were about to go all out. And Yin Shaoqing was currently in his most vulnerable state, "severely injured and unconscious"...

He had to prepare for the worst, and even just thinking about it made his heart clench.

"Brother Liu!" he shouted, briefly explaining the situation to Liu Jianjun, "...I reckon they might target the old house or Yin Shaoqing's server with underhanded tactics. Physical demolition, or something even more disgusting, electromagnetic interference, planting a virus."

Liu Jianjun's face was as black as the bottom of a pot: "These bastards! Mr. Jin, what do you suggest we do? How about we move Teacher Yin to a safer place?"

Jin Zhaoxuan shook his head: "The server is like a giant ICU bed right now; moving it even slightly could mean pulling the plug. We have to build up the defenses here to the highest level." He frowned and pondered, "Brother Liu, do you know anyone who understands electronic security, or... someone who's quick-witted and keeps a tight tongue?"

Liu Jianjun understood immediately: "You want bodyguards? Yes! I have an old comrade's son, a retired reconnaissance soldier who now runs his own security company. He's absolutely reliable, and his men are all top-notch fighters, and they know electronic devices inside and out. I'll get them right away!"

“Okay, be quick and discreet. Money is no object.” Jin Zhaoxuan paused, looking out the window at the heavy twilight. “Also, these next few days… I might have to trouble you to keep watch here. I have some things to take care of.”

"You go ahead! Leave this to me!" Liu Jianjun thumped his chest loudly. "As long as these old bones of mine haven't fallen apart, no bastard will be able to sneak in!"

With everything arranged, Jin Zhaoxuan breathed a slight sigh of relief, but the weight on his heart remained unshaken. He walked back to the server, gently placing his hand on the cold chassis as if touching some fragile antique.

"See? You haven't even opened your eyes yet, and trouble is already lining up to knock on the door." He said in a low voice, without any complaint in his tone, only a bottomless weariness and a desperate ruthlessness. "So, hurry up and wake the hell up."

“Before you turn it on…” His voice was extremely low, with an almost obsessive coldness, “I’ll guard this place. If anyone dares to touch a single data cable of yours, I’ll scatter their ancestral graves.”

The curve on the screen seemed to bounce very slightly at that moment.

Like a silent response, or like the gears of fate, in the still darkness, with a click, they mesh and turn, grinding into an unknown and frigid thicket of thorns.