Chapter 27 Comfort: Lost and found again, a blessing in life.
In a place where everyone is hiding behind a pseudonym, suddenly the screen is filled with your real name. The effect is comparable to a ghost story, and Shu Qing becomes extremely irritable.
This was purely a ghost story from modern netizens; Jiu Su didn't even have the awareness to protect privacy, let alone empathize with her in this matter. However, when he was allowed to look at her private messages, he still felt an overwhelming malice.
“Don’t listen to them,” he said without thinking. “They have ill intentions, and giving in isn’t the solution.”
Shu Qing is the type of person who doesn't stand to be taken advantage of, so he didn't even need to say it: "Of course I won't apologize! It's not my fault."
The two quickly reached a consensus on the general direction, and the next step was to discuss specific defensive measures.
Jiu Su asked, "According to modern rules, this information cannot be known to the public?"
Shu Qing knew he didn't understand these things, so she took a deep breath, composed herself, and shared the information with him: "Yeah, we call this 'human flesh search.' If it's really exposed, there's absolutely no privacy left. There might be a ton of harassing phone calls and text messages; colleagues, friends, family will find out, and so will your work..."
She spoke slower and slower, becoming strangely calm, and an inexplicable thought popped into her mind: Come to think of it, it doesn't seem like anything particularly remarkable.
In her more than twenty years of life experience, at most there are some dark moments of youthful ignorance, but there has never been any history of moral depravity or deliberate evil deeds. Even if it were laid bare online, she has nothing to hide.
As for her job, she's already thrown her resignation letter in her supervisor's face, so what's there to worry about affecting her work?
“…Okay, it’s not as bad as the curse, after all, I’m an upright person.” Shu Qing met Jiu Su’s questioning gaze and said, “First of all, my ‘golden finger’ might have negative effects again, but you’ve already blocked that for me, so we can leave it for now.”
"Secondly, I don't know what information they have, and they might steal my bank account... cough, I mean, they might steal my money; finally, my home address has been exposed, and someone might come to harass me, but I can only stay in the photo studio these days anyway, and... I don't think they can beat you; then there are the harassing phone calls and harassing messages."
Jiu Su understood what she meant. He lowered his eyelashes and realized the helplessness that Shu Qing had felt when she mocked herself earlier, saying "I can't do anything"—because she realized that she was just as helpless against that ethereal virtual world.
If the opponents were indeed the two groups that Jin Wanli had investigated, then things would be much easier, and he could immediately take some extreme measures; however, they are not, and killing people now would only destroy clues and cause more trouble, which would be completely meaningless.
This negative thought only flashed through her mind for a moment. Jiu Su thought to herself: At least I should stay by her side and protect her.
At least he can avoid the worst outcome, the most irreversible harm inflicted on a person.
Both of them faced the crisis with a positive attitude; one was responsible for providing resources, and the other for personal safety—in short, they were fearless. Even Jin Wanli sent two subordinates, one level 5 and the other level 6, to guard the gate in human and animal form, respectively.
But in just half a week, the situation began to deteriorate rapidly.
First, Shu Qing's phone was bombarded with messages—which was somewhat expected. She didn't answer any unknown numbers, blocked all text messages, ignoring any messages, whether they were suggestive or fabricated, and ignored all friend requests, forcibly creating a vacuum of defense for herself.
The white rose pendant she always wore had turned quite black, so Jiu Su replaced the black one with a few new scales. This time, he wasn't as weak as before; he just slept for another whole day.
On the third day, things took a new turn. Shu Qing had been editing videos all night and slept soundly until noon. When she turned on her phone, she found it was full of spam calls and more than twenty missed calls.
Caller ID: Mom.
Shu Qing: "..."
It's over.
She quickly called back. Her mother had devoted her life to traditional Chinese medicine. Although she had passed retirement age last year, the older one gets, the more sought-after one becomes in the field of traditional Chinese medicine. She ran her own traditional Chinese medicine clinic and saw patients every day. Her mind was filled with the four diagnostic methods of traditional Chinese medicine, and she didn't often come to see her daughter who worked thousands of miles away when she wasn't busy.
These twenty-odd phone calls must mean something's up, Shu Qing thought anxiously: Could it be that they couldn't curse me, so they've started cursing my family instead...?
Fortunately, her mother answered the phone quickly, and Dr. Shu Tong's anxious voice came through the earpiece: "Xiao Qing?"
"Yes, Mom," Shu Qing said guiltily, "my phone was on silent, I didn't notice the call. Is something wrong at home?"
"Everything's fine at home. What happened to you?" Judging from the tone of your voice, Shu Tong breathed a slight sigh of relief, but was still very worried. "I received several harassing text messages this morning, all with your photos... photoshopped in a very ominous way... Who are those people? What happened to you?"
Shu Qing bit her lip. Although it wasn't a curse, just a text message harassment, she still couldn't relax at all.
Yesterday, Jiu Su replaced the scales on Shu Qing's pendant, which consumed a lot of her demonic power. Too lazy to maintain her human form, she transformed back into a beautiful little white snake to recuperate. At this moment, she slithered over and coiled up beside Shu Qing's hand.
With him by her side, Shu Qing felt much more at ease and said to Shu Tong on the other end of the phone, "Something happened. But it's nothing too serious. Let me tell you from the beginning..."
She recounted everything from beginning to end, deliberately omitting the particularly worrying parts such as the apartment manager's ill intentions and the harrowing experience of being cursed, and exaggerating how all-powerful her little snake demon was and how reliable the head of the Super Management Bureau's Special Operations Department was.
Even though she tried her best to portray the situation as peaceful, Shu Tong was still stunned and remained silent for a long time.
Shu Qing called out uneasily, "Mom?"
"Oh, oh." It seemed like it took Shu Tong a while to process everything. She said, "I'll buy you a plane ticket now, for tomorrow. You should quickly check on your little monster and see if you should buy it a seat or pet transport."
This meant they wanted to urgently take her home, and Shu Qing instinctively wanted to refuse: "No need—"
"You have to come back!" Shu Tong said without hesitation. "It's too unsafe where you are. Those people who send harassing text messages even have my phone number. How could they not find where you live? What if they come to your door looking for you?"
"No, I'm staying at a friend's house right now." Shu Qing's voice carried a confident smile. "Besides, I've already called the police, so I have someone protecting me."
"No way." Shu Tong insisted. "Your friend... I don't know if he's reliable. Think about where your information was leaked from and how it was leaked. Besides, it's always safer at home than at a friend's place."
Shu Qing was extremely helpless. "It really won't work, Mom. I'm here, and there are people from the Super Management Bureau guarding me. There are two of them right at the door. There's also the most powerful Special Operations Minister watching this matter. He's a level 9.2 monster. When he goes crazy, he can destroy a city."
"If I go home, the three of us tied together, I don't even know if we'd still be able to fight back. We'd all have to rely on Xiao Hong. Is it any safer than here?"
This simple and brutal comparison of combat strength convinced Shu Tong. She took a half step back and said, "Then tell me your friend's address, and I'll fly over to see you tomorrow."
Shu Qing: "..."
Her seemingly plausible comparison of combat strength was utter nonsense. If Shu Qing went back, Jin Wanli's all-around defense would definitely follow her. It wasn't that she didn't want to go home, but she was afraid that the curse on her would affect her family. She was young and resilient, and she had Jiu Su protecting her, but her parents were getting old.
Didn't you see that even Qi Yun didn't dare to go home, and that the rich young lady was squeezing into a photo studio with her?
She tried to make a last-ditch effort, "Mom, there's really no need..."
“It’s settled then,” Shu Tong said. Having served as the head of the department for many years and now running her own clinic, she had long since developed a habit of making decisions decisively. “Send me your location, and your dad and I will go there tomorrow. Don’t forget to tell your friend.”
“…Wait a minute,” Shu Qing said, “No—”
There was a slight pause on the other end of the earphone, and two seconds later she heard Shu Tong say, "Baby, don't be afraid."
Suddenly, I couldn't bring myself to say any of those words of advice.
Shu Qing lowered her head and sent her location to Shu Tong. Suddenly, a large drop of water hit the phone screen.
From the angle of a snake, her face can be clearly seen. Her face is expressionless, only tears silently slide down her eyelashes. Her feathery eyelashes are wet with tears, like a little bird that has encountered a storm.
Cold reptiles are not suited to comforting people. Jiu Su silently transformed into human form, hesitated, and took her hand, softly calling, "A Shu."
"I'm fine," Shu Qing squeezed his hand in return, "I just suddenly felt like crying for a while."
Jiu Su thought she was worried about her parents' safety once they arrived in H City, so he suggested, "How about I try to persuade them?" He could ask Jin Wanli, in his official capacity as an official of the Super Management Bureau, to persuade Shu Tong to give up the idea.
“You can’t persuade her.” Shu Qing shook her head, her voice becoming increasingly nasal. “My mom… my mom is actually afraid I might do something rash, that’s why she wants to come and see me in person. She’s a doctor, she’s seen too many things like this.”
Jiu Su then stopped insisting on the suggestion, and even felt a faint sense of comfort: it seemed that at least in this life, her family had indeed been very good to her.
He simply held her hand and, with a smile, coaxed her, "I think your mother's concerns are very valid given how you are now."
Shu Qing was taken aback, then looked up and glared at him: "Can't you tell that I'm upset because I made my parents worry and dragged them into this mess?"
Having honed her skills in the workplace for several years, her glare was usually quite intimidating. However, with tears welling up in her eyes, the intimidating power of her glare was immediately halved.
Jiu Su wanted to reach out and wipe away her tears, but halfway up her hand, she abruptly turned away, went to the bedside table, grabbed a tissue, and handed it to her.
"Really? I didn't realize." He smiled, feigning surprise. "After all, I don't have any biological parents who would worry about me. How could I guess if you didn't tell me?"
"..."
Shu Qing was truly exasperated. She hastily wiped away her tears with a tissue, rested her fluffy head on Jiu Su's shoulder, and muttered, "Your coaxing skills are terrible. Who taught you to comfort people by comparing your misery?"
Jiu Su froze, unsure whether to push her away or hug her. After hesitating for a long time, she slowly put her hand around Jiu Su's back and patted her gently, asking softly, "How do you want me to comfort you?"
“Just leave it like this,” Shu Qing instructed him. “When a girl needs to vent her emotions, you should just stay there quietly and keep your mouth shut.”
Jiu Su indeed fell silent, and gently embraced her, patting her back lightly as if coaxing a child.
Her body was so warm, and her breath, which clung to his collar, carried a damp heat that seemed to pour directly into his heart, drenching him completely in a scorching summer downpour.
He couldn't go against her feelings and finally embraced her. After 1,700 years, he embraced her again. It was as if a long-empty part of him was finally filled. For a moment, almost his whole body trembled.
To lose something and then find it again is a blessing in life.
But what if you gain it and then lose it again?
Although Shu Qing was complaining, she couldn't deny that Jiu Su's words had diverted her attention to some extent. The sadness and grievances that had burst out at that moment were diverted away, and she really felt much lighter now.
Having vented her emotions, she still had important business to attend to. Wiping away her tears, she straightened up, scratched her head somewhat sheepishly, and asked, "If my parents come, where will they stay? Would it be safer for them to stay here too?"
Jiu Su suppressed the sudden feeling of disappointment that welled up in her heart and nodded.
"Then I'll hurry up and pack," Shu Qing said, having regained her mobility. She jumped off the cot. "Let's see which room we can tidy up and make room for us. You should also hurry back to your water form; you're an important fighting force!"
She hurriedly went out to make arrangements, first explaining the situation to Qi Yun, then figuring out where to stay, causing quite a stir.
However, the important information for today was not yet over. Shu Qing had just arranged accommodation for her parents and hadn't even had a chance to catch her breath when she received a video call from Tu Nan.
She had clearly slipped out during her work hours, hiding in a deserted corner downstairs, acting suspiciously, but with a serious expression.
“I made an unexpected discovery today,” Tu Nan said rapidly, “that it was Yu Ming who leaked your private information!”
Yu Ming was Shu Qing's former supervisor, "Brother Yu." It was no surprise that he had Shu Qing's current address, emergency contact number, and so on. Shu Qing immediately pressed for details: "Tell me more?"
“I don’t have time to go into too much detail,” Tu Nan said quickly. “I saw that HR contacted him today and vaguely mentioned you. Then I secretly hacked into his internal network account and found that a few days ago he asked HR for access to information on departing employees and accessed your file. I don’t have more concrete evidence yet, but the timing matches up, so it’s highly likely to be him.”
She glanced at the time quickly. "I have to get back right away. I can't be away from my workstation for too long!"
Shu Qing knew they were strict about attendance checks, so she waved her away and sent her back to work. She then frowned as she looked at the information Tu Nan had provided her.
It wasn't that she didn't believe Tu Nan's judgment, it's just...
If it really is Yu Ming, what is his motive?
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