episode 21
"I'm not sad."
Song Liuguang casually typed a message to He Xun, and his mood seemed to lighten up a bit as a result.
He got up and went to the bathroom to wash his face with cold water. When he came back, he turned his attention back to online public opinion.
As expected, the car accident incident that was forced to be buried years ago has now added fuel to the fire for Karen Mok, and it seems that it will not be extinguished anytime soon.
fine.
Song Liuguang was quite satisfied and also admired him.
In just one morning, he witnessed firsthand the explosive growth of this revelation, which unfolded like a volcanic eruption, and couldn't help but marvel at the top-notch ability of He Xun, the chief strategist, to manipulate public opinion.
Time, evidence, connections, background checks, and public opinion—each element is linked to the next, forming a perfect and unbreakable chain.
This is a textbook example of a revelation.
He couldn't imagine how bright the future would be if He Xun personally started his own social media account one day.
Um.
At least in terms of making money, it's a bright prospect.
As fate would have it, just as Song Liuguang was pondering something absentmindedly, he received a message from an unfamiliar stranger, which seemed perfectly reasonable.
The other person was a man who used very respectful and humble language.
"Hello, I'm a staff member from the public relations department of HeTai. May I speak with you now?"
*
Now.
Your sentencing is about to begin.
The judgment upon you shall nowmence.
This English sentence is not used in a common sentence structure, but is specifically added to literary or dramatic works. If you were to read it aloud, it would have a strong dramatic effect.
Although Mo Wenjin has flaws in his personal morality, he was raised in a proper scholarly family, so he shouldn't be unable to understand this much English.
Shocked, he felt it was absurd. His instinct to deceive himself made him subconsciously think that this was a prank, but then he suddenly remembered what his female secretary had just said.
Let's check the news.
...news.
Could it be... that something really happened?
Just as Mo Wenjin was about to open his social media app, there was a sudden, urgent knocking on the door.
"Enter."
The door was quickly pushed open, and the person who entered was his assistant.
It was a cool morning, but the assistant was covered in sweat. His neat black suit was soaked with a thin layer of perspiration, as if he had run there.
Upon entering, his expression was complex, a mixture of fear and a hint of hesitation.
Mo Wenjin's heart skipped a beat. His Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he gripped his phone tightly, but he still forced a calm expression and asked in a cold voice, "What is it?"
*
"Mr. Mo, Chairman Mo of HeTai wants to see you."
“I will not see you. They will say that I am seriously ill and cannot see anyone.”
Mo Shilin, who was playing the latest mobile game developed by Yuntu with great enthusiasm, spoke arrogantly without even raising his head.
Assistant Li Mu maintained his unwavering smile, holding a stack of documents already signed by Mo Shilin: "Okay, should we censor the news about your uncle, Chairman Mo, on our website?"
"Don't worry about it for now. Come back at 2 PM and report the wind direction to me."
"Okay, Mr. Mo."
Li Mu nodded, then deftly and precisely pulled out a file from a stack of documents in his hand and handed it to Mo Shilin: "Mr. Mo, this is the information about the person you asked me to look into. Please take a look."
Mo Shilin paused, lifted his eyelids, and saw He Xun's name clearly marked on the file folder. He then tossed aside his phone and took it with great interest.
He casually flipped through the two short pages of file in his hand, and asked in a cold voice, "Why didn't he have any schooling experience when he was born?"
“The files were burned a year ago.” Li Mu’s tone was unusually troubled.
This statement is very informative and can be interpreted in many ways.
Mo Shilin fell silent, and the atmosphere suddenly became somewhat frozen, as if the office was turning into a gradually cooling freezer.
But Li Mu remained quite calm, because he knew that Mo Shilin was not the kind of boss who would easily lose his temper with his subordinates.
He kept his eyes down, noticing that his boss barely looked at the other words, only lingering for a few seconds on the not-so-clear but still exceptionally handsome half-body photo of He Xun before slowly shifting his gaze away.
The slight upturn of his lips revealed that he was in a good mood.
Li Mu was unsure of his boss's mindset.
The little male servant's photo is quite endearing, but the file is gone, so what's there to be happy about?
—A moment later.
"interesting."
Mo Shilin placed his palm on He Xun's face and said something sarcastic before turning to Li Mu, who was practically standing like a statue, and said, "Send someone to keep an eye on him right now. Report his whereabouts to me immediately. Thanks for your hard work. Go now."
"Yes, Mr. Mo."
The door closed, and the office fell silent again. Mo Shilin turned his gaze to the computer screen, which displayed the sex scandal that had ignited the entire internet in the early hours of the morning—or perhaps it could be defined as social crime news.
The protagonist is his uncle, Mo Wenjin.
Mo Shilin adjusted his glasses, cracked his knuckles, and then casually clicked on the homepage of a blogger who had posted a wealth of evidence. He opened the private messaging page and sent a fake ARP message to the blogger.
This is one of the network techniques commonly used by hackers to hijack other people's communication data. The principle is that the attacker sends fake ARP, also known as Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) messages to deceive devices in the local area network, causing them to incorrectly associate the attacker's MAC address with the IP address of the legitimate device.
In simple terms, the ARP protocol resolves IP addresses to their corresponding MAC addresses, for example, 192.168.1.1 → 00:1A:2B:3C:4D:5E. Assuming N is the attacker's MAC address, the attacker can send a fake ARP response packet claiming "IP address X corresponds to MAC address N." The attacked device will then incorrectly send traffic to the attacker, and the attacker can also retrieve a copy of the attacked router's or computer's updated local ARP cache table.
The ultimate goal, of course, is to hijack the other party's communication data in order to obtain important account passwords, chat logs, and other related privacy information from the other party's device.
Correspondingly, you can also find out the other party's real IP address.
As an outstanding computer science graduate, Mo Shilin could easily do something like this.
Although he hasn't done it in a long time.
He had long since transitioned from a purely technical role to a managerial one, but he can still find a long-lost sense of enjoyment in it.
Just like when I was a kid, I would hold a copy of "CSAPP" in my hands and stare at the computer, determined to understand what programming was, even if it meant not eating or drinking.
Anyway, anything is better than dealing with those disgusting social engagements outside.
Mo Shilin stared calmly at the computer screen, lost in thought.
Before long, he retrieved a copy of the other party's computer's local ARP cache table. The IP address showed that the other party was in an internet cafe in another province. However, the other party was very careful not to use their personal mobile phone for anything, so he was unable to obtain any more important information.
But Mo Shilin was clearly not angry about this, and simply made a phone call casually.
The call was answered shortly afterward, and a pleasant but slightly puzzled voice replied, "Hello."
He could imagine the other person's expression at that moment—a frown of surprise mixed with a hint of confusion, making their handsome face incredibly vivid.
If he could, he would like to see He Xun with that expression on many occasions.
"Young Master Mo? Is there something you need?"
He Xun was probably watering the flowers in the garden when Mo Shilin clearly heard He Xun put down the watering can and then walk to the side.
But he deliberately asked, "He Xun, where are you?"
"I'm at home." He Xun's voice was flawless, and he even asked him what important matter he had to do.
Mo Shilin chuckled softly, then said in a deliberately mysterious tone, "Have you seen the news? There's a good show to watch."
"I'm telling you, Mr. Mo," He Xun on the other end chuckled helplessly, "you call me during your precious work hours just to gossip with me?"
The last word he uttered had a natural upward inflection, as if it weren't through a phone, but rather whispered intimately in someone's ear.
“We can talk about something else, what would you like to talk about?” Mo Shilin said meaningfully, toying with the Montblanc pen in his hand.
"Tsk."
He Xun clearly didn't want to deal with this irresponsible CEO. He scoffed and left with the words "Go to work" before hanging up the phone.
It was nearly noon, and the sun was high in the sky, its scorching rays relentlessly shining on the villa, illuminating every corner of the garden.
He Xun leaned against the corner of the wall, a bunch of pink peonies blooming brightly beside him. The bright sunlight made his skin look porcelain white, and paired with his black and white servant's outfit, he looked like a male version of a doll that had come out of a fairy tale book.
He calmly scrolled away from the call with Mo Shilin, and then the screen popped up with Mo Shilin's online activity over the past half hour, which he hadn't closed yet.
"It's a pity."
A hidden smile flashed in He Xun's eyes, then he called out Mo Shilin's name in a soft voice, and said with a hint of regret, "You can't catch me."
—And on the other side.
Mo Shilin casually tossed his phone aside, crossed his long, slender hands, and turned with interest to another computer.
The screen clearly displayed a live feed of the back garden!
His tone held a satisfied sigh: "I'll catch you, darling."
*
"Mr. Mo is seriously ill and I'm afraid he won't be able to see you for a while. Please go back now."
Li Mu personally went downstairs to convey Mo Shilin's message to Mo Wenjin, but before Mo Wenjin could react, he turned and left, his back view exuding an air of official business.
Mo Wenjin was left standing there, completely shocked.
who?
Mo Shilin?
Seriously ill?!
He's seriously ill, my foot!
Just last night, he bumped into that bastard attending a banquet, looking refreshed and drinking with all the guests at the table!
He's seriously ill my ass!
After being turned away, Mo Wenjin's already weak face turned red and then pale. If his assistant hadn't awkwardly helped him up, he would have fainted on the spot.
But there's nothing we can do.
He can't cause trouble here, and he doesn't dare to.
After a long while, even though he hated Mo Shilin so much that his teeth itched to die, Mo Wenjin had no choice but to pretend to be calm and leave through the gate of Yuntu.
Once inside the car, his true colors were revealed. With red eyes, he demanded of his assistant, "How the hell is it now?!"
"The other party agreed to accept the money and settle the matter, but they want—"
The assistant nervously observed Mo Wenjin's expression, but due to the cramped space inside the car, he couldn't stand up and could only reply while bent over, feeling extremely uncomfortable: "Seven million."
"Damn it! These penniless bastards!" Mo Wenjin spat angrily, all traces of his gentlemanly manners vanishing, replaced by a sinister and vicious look in his eyes. "Are they desperate for money?! Forget it, we'll settle accounts with these people later after this is over!"
The assistant responded quickly and efficiently.
Mo Wenjin gasped for breath, taking several minutes to finally calm himself down. He forced down a mouthful of tea, suppressing the anger that welled up with fear. But suddenly! As if remembering something, he abruptly sat up, not even caring that the water glass in his hand flew out of his hand. He glared at his assistant, looking disheveled and fierce, and said, "Call Ding Xiabing here immediately!"
The assistant was sweating profusely, but had no choice but to answer truthfully: "Mr. Ding... he... he went missing this morning."
"I knew it... it must be... that bitch!"
Mo Wenjin was grinding his teeth to powder. He slapped his thigh in exasperation, displaying his impotent rage to the fullest. "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and go find it!"
"yes!"
*
Ding Xiabing, the other protagonist in the bombardment of the entire internet news event, actually arrived at the apartment that He Xun had arranged for him in the middle of yesterday night. He remembered He Xun's instructions and would not go out for the next few days.
Of course, he really had no desire to go out.
However, before he could answer the call from his agent, Karen Mok's bodyguards arrived just before noon.
After all, he was a well-trained professional and acted rationally. After finding the apartment, he did not force his way in. Instead, he spoke politely to Ding Xiabing and asked if he could come out and talk to Mo Wenjin.
However, what they didn't know was that Ding Xiabing was no longer able to reply.
Ding Xiabing was wearing only a thin white cotton-linen nightgown, curled up on the bed in the bedroom, her mind blank.
Perhaps due to the medication, or perhaps due to fear, he seemed unable to think rationally. He could only choke back tears and use the last shred of reason in his mind to call He Xun.
“He Xun… my current apartment address has been exposed… Mo… he said he wants to talk to me…”
He Xun answered almost instantly. He keenly sensed that Ding Xiabing's voice was not quite right. His heart tightened, and he immediately reassured her softly, "Don't be afraid, listen to me, don't go out. I'm coming to find you right now."
"He Xun...no...it's dangerous for you to show up now...don't come out..."
Ding Xiabing gripped her trembling wrist tightly, her whole being plunged into an abyss of pain, yet she was still worried about He Xun's safety.
He curled up on the bed, his body beginning to convulse uncontrollably, his twitching limbs resembling those of a raw fish violently thrown into a vat of boiling oil by a butcher.
If a psychiatrist were present, they would likely recognize these as symptoms of a severe dissociative disorder episode.
"That's not important!"
He Xun's voice was unusually tinged with anxiety, but he still tried his best to gently instruct Ding Xiabing, word by word: "Listen to me, after you hang up the phone, throw it away. Don't open the door. Climb over from the balcony to the balcony of the fourth apartment from the left. No one lives in your apartment floor except you. I've already picked the lock on that apartment's balcony. You can go directly back to the living room of that apartment from the balcony, and then go out through the front door. Don't hesitate, don't take the elevator, just go out through the fire escape. After you come out, turn into the alley south of the apartment building. I'll be waiting for you there."
As he spoke, he closed his eyes, gripped his phone tightly, and his voice finally carried a barely perceptible plea: "Don't be afraid, I will take you to a safe place."
"Just come out, just come out..."
A safe place...
A safe place...
Ding Xiabing could no longer hear what He Xun was saying; his vision had turned into a blinding white light, like the color of heaven.
Lost in thought, he had only one question: where was that so-called safe place that he had never been since birth?
Will he... never find...?
"Mr. Ding, since you're not cooperating with us, don't blame us for being impolite. We're just doing this for money!"
The next second.
Clang!
The sound of the door being broken down abruptly woke Ding Xiabing from her dreamlike state.
He struggled to roll off the bed before the men rushed into the bedroom, crawled to his open suitcase, pulled out the last vial of anesthetic from a hidden compartment, and tremblingly plunged it into his arm, which was already covered in bruises and hematomas from repeated punctures that had caused capillaries to rupture.
The cold, sharp needle was pushed inch by inch into his bone and blood, the excruciating pain making him wince and groan in agony. He murmured with a painful smile, "Thank you... He Xun..."
"I think... I can find that safe place..."
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