Chapter 79 A Turning Point If you had thought of this angle earlier, you wouldn't have waited...
"Great, let me see." Lin Yuwei's weariness vanished instantly, and she quickly walked to Li Xiao's computer. The team members immediately gathered around, holding their breath and waiting for Li Xiao to continue.
Li Xiao pointed to two complex lines of code side by side on the screen: "Sister Weiwei, look at the format of the hash value field in this part! The left side is from the 'leaked' data packet this time, and the right side is the old version of the MD5 algorithm format that Qichen released to the open-source community a year and a half ago."
She quickly brought up a new evidence interface, her tone becoming increasingly certain: "But all publicly available technical documents and executive sharing show that Venustech completely abandoned MD5 during its full architecture upgrade a year ago due to security risks, and all core business lines have been upgraded to the Bcrypt algorithm!"
A collective gasp filled the conference room.
Lin Yuwei bent down for a closer look and astutely grasped the key point: "Such an obvious difference, how could Venucia's own technical team not notice it?"
"This is the key!" Li Xiao's voice shone with excitement: "We suspect that the Venucia team is working hard to investigate vulnerabilities in the existing system and internal logs. Their thinking is limited to 'someone is stealing secrets from the current system,' so they naturally use current standards to verify, making it difficult for them to realize that the forger is relying on an outdated document that has been leaked!"
She emphasized the screen with her fingertip: "Actually, this forger is very clever. The data content is almost perfect. At first glance, it is difficult to find any problems. But they made a fatal 'time-traveling mistake.' It's like they carefully crafted a key that can open an old lock, but they didn't know that Qichen's lock cylinder was completely replaced a year ago! This antique format that 'traveled' from another era is the hardest proof!"
This vivid analogy made everyone suddenly realize the truth, and after a brief silence, the conference room erupted in long-suppressed cheers! The fatigue from days of hard work was swept away at this moment by this earth-shattering discovery.
"Well done!" Lin Yuwei's voice trembled slightly with excitement: "Immediately create the most intuitive comparison chart for this 'mistake of the times,' one that everyone can understand at a glance! Use it as core evidence, embed it into the timeline of public opinion and motivation analysis we compiled earlier, and form the final report!"
The team worked efficiently and the report was quickly compiled. Lin Yuwei copied the file into a USB drive and solemnly handed it to Xiaoyu: "Just in case, this report will not be transmitted over the network. You and I will go to Qichen now and contact Engineer Zhang. Please ask him to personally deliver it to President Gu or President Lu. We must hurry because we only have one week to break through this impasse!"
Night had fallen, and only a few lights remained on the Venucia Technology Building in the darkness, like a lurking beast. Lin Yuwei parked her car next to a 24-hour convenience store near the Venucia Technology Company, turned off the engine, and the car was instantly enveloped in silence.
With all her rivals watching Qichen closely, she couldn't let them discover her contact with Qichen if she planned to secretly acquire Qichen's shares, lest any complications arise.
She asked Xiaoyu to contact Engineer Zhang and arranged to meet at a convenience store. Soon, they saw Engineer Zhang walk out of the Qichen Technology building.
"Go ahead, be careful," Lin Yuwei whispered to Xiaoyu. Xiaoyu got out of the car and, along with Zhang Gong, pushed open the glass door and went into the store. They quickly passed each other and left. Xiaoyu took two bottles of soda and returned to the car, while Zhang Gong held a pack of newly bought cigarettes. They hurried into the night and headed towards the Qichen Building.
Lin Yuwei followed closely behind Engineer Zhang through the car window and rearview mirror until he successfully entered the building, at which point she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Did Engineer Zhang say how things are at the company right now?" she finally couldn't help but ask softly.
Xiaoyu turned her head and handed one of the bottles of soda to Lin Yuwei, her tone tinged with a hint of reluctance: "He said that everyone has been living in the company for more than a week, and President Gu and President Lu have been working even harder, currently staying in the conference room with the experts sent from above... I hope that what we have here can really help them."
Lin Yuwei's gaze fell once again on the towering glass curtain wall building in the rearview mirror. Her eyes softened and became complicated for a moment, but the next second, she forcibly pulled herself away from that concern and started the car smoothly.
Now is not the time for sentimentality; she must rush back to her studio, where two tough battles await her: one in the capital market, and the other in the battle of public opinion.
When Lin Yuwei returned to the studio, it was already past midnight. She wanted everyone to go home and rest, but the team members looked at each other and none of them moved. They tacitly headed to the company's nap area and sofa.
"Sister Weiwei, let's just make do here for now. We have a tough battle to fight early tomorrow morning." After saying that, Xiao Li had already wrapped himself in a blanket and lay down.
Looking at her comrades-in-arms, Lin Yuwei felt a surge of warmth in her heart. She stopped talking and took a break.
Before dawn, the Shiguang Studio had already awakened again. The sound of keyboards and hushed discussions once more merged into a symphony of battle. Based on the irrefutable evidence of the "errors of the times" they had found, and combined with the timeline of public opinion manipulation they had sorted out, they wrote several articles with clear logic and complete chains of evidence.
Meanwhile, Xiao Li and Chen Lu separately contacted several trustworthy bloggers in the technology and finance fields on various platforms to help publish posts and videos.
At 9 a.m., several key articles and videos were published by popular bloggers, instantly igniting a frenzy of discussion online!
The "Data Leak" Mystery at Venucia Technology: A Hash Value Field That "Traveled Through Time"?
Who is manipulating public opinion? Unveiling the precise three-hour attack behind the Venucia incident.
Soon, hashtags such as #VenuCenterTechnologyFramed# and #IroncladEvidenceOfTheWrongTimes# trended on social media, with views increasing by millions. Netizens were no longer overwhelmingly condemning Venucia, but began to debate it fiercely.
"I knew something was wrong! What company could leak data and still be found to have made such a basic mistake?"
"This is clearly a setup against Venucia! Look at the timeline, it's too coincidental!"
"I'd guess it was Huajiang Media or Fengyun Technology who did it; they're the biggest beneficiaries!"
The public opinion field was in complete chaos, with all sorts of opinions being expressed. In short, the focus of public opinion was no longer solely on Venustech. Lin Yuwei stared intently at the constantly scrolling comments and data on the screen, and finally a genuinely relaxed smile appeared on her face for the first time in days. The first spark had been successfully ignited!
Meanwhile, within Venucia Technology.
Gu Qingyan was in the conference room, dealing with the expert review team sent by her superiors, drawing all the energy away from them. Lu Ming took the opportunity to slip out and find the core technology team. They had obtained the USB drive brought back by Engineer Zhang and were working hard to tackle the new challenges guided by the report.
Holding the printed report, Lu Ming called Zhang aside and went straight to the point: "Old Zhang, did you write this report?"
Remembering his girlfriend Xiaoyu's instructions to "never reveal President Lin's name," Zhang could only nod reluctantly, "It's...it's me, otherwise, who else could it be?"
Lu Ming looked at him and slowly said, "Is that so? Indeed, now our partners are cutting ties one after another, and everyone is afraid of getting involved with us. This accusation is coming on strong, and an expert team has been deployed. Who would dare to help us at this time? But—" He changed the subject, his tone firm, "Old Zhang, it's not that I doubt your ability, but if you had thought of this angle earlier, you wouldn't have waited until you were at your wit's end to bring it up. To be honest, which expert stepped in to help us?"
Under Lu Ming's scrutinizing gaze, Zhang Gong's mental defenses quickly crumbled. Knowing that he couldn't fool Lu Ming under his nose, he stammered, "It was...it was my girlfriend...their studio that did it."
Lu Ming's eyes suddenly lit up; everything became clear. He immediately thought of Lin Yuwei! His gaze unconsciously drifted to the still-lit conference room in the distance, and he smiled meaningfully: "Good, what a true test of character! Our President Gu has turned misfortune into blessing this time. As long as we get through this, even greater fortunes are yet to come!"
Upon hearing this, Engineer Zhang belatedly laughed.
Lu Ming immediately organized his core team and sent the self-certification materials, compiled based on the new direction, to Gu Qingyan in the conference room.
Gu Qingyan, who was dealing with the expert team, only glanced at the document after receiving it. His previously tired and dull eyes instantly lit up. He was invigorated and immediately showed the material to the expert team.
"Experts, please take a look. This is the irrefutable evidence our team has just discovered—that the other party has falsified data! The data format they are using is an outdated standard that we completely abandoned a year ago..."
Because the evidence was conclusive and Gu Qingyan's logic was very clear, the experts also realized the truth of the matter. After several rounds of rigorous review and questioning until the evening, the expert team basically reached a consensus: the so-called "data leak" incident was indeed fabricated, and Qichen Technology was deliberately smeared.
After seeing the expert team off, Gu Qingyan let out a long sigh of relief. A surge of exhaustion and joy welled up inside him. He turned around and hugged his brother Lu Ming, who had fought alongside him, tightly: "Old Lu! This was truly a close call! Tell me, how exactly did you discover the problem from that tricky angle?"
Lu Ming smiled mysteriously and patted him on the back: "Hehe, brother, just think of it as...we've met a benefactor. Okay, don't ask so many questions now. Go back and get a good night's sleep. If you don't leave, who in the whole company dares to leave?"
Looking at Lu Ming's "mischievous smile," Gu Qingyan was in a great mood. Coupled with her physical exhaustion, she decided to suppress her curiosity for the time being.
At this moment, Han, the head of the operations department, came over: "President Gu, there's another situation. Starting this morning, the online public opinion has changed, with a large number of voices supporting us and questioning the mastermind behind it all."
Gu Qingyan was taken aback upon hearing this: "What a coincidence? It all happened today... You should investigate the specific reason tomorrow. Don't think about anything today, go back and get some rest!"
As employees gradually left the Kaichen Technology company building, only a few lights remained in the empty office building. Gu Qingyan stood alone in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in his office, looking out at the city lights. A sense of exhaustion, as if he had survived a disaster, enveloped him. It was in this silence that his longing for Lin Yuwei surged forth like a flood breaking through a dam, instantly overwhelming all reason.
He suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to see her.
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