Chapter 296: So Perfunctory
Xia Lili nodded and did not continue the topic. Instead, she found an excuse to leave the room and met Li Qihan in the corridor, where they discussed in a low voice.
"I always feel like there's something of a coincidence," she said, frowning. "This skiing trip was arranged on the spur of the moment because of my sudden visit. I just asked Professor Tian yesterday to go to the lab, and today I was brought here to go skiing... It all happened so fast."
Li Qihan calmly analyzed, "Not necessarily. Even without your visit, the person behind the scenes could have used other excuses to lure An Zhaoyan to the ski resort. With careful planning, she would eventually fall into this trap."
Xia Lili seemed to understand something: "That makes sense..."
"The Los Angeles police are already retrieving Peng Lang's bank statements," Li Qihan continued. "Once the results come back, we'll know if he's had any unusual financial transactions recently."
At this moment, An Zhaoyan's door suddenly opened. She stood at the door with a serious expression and a frown on her face.
Xia Lili immediately stepped forward and asked, "Did you find anything?"
An Zhaoyan nodded gravely and stepped aside to make way: "Come in and talk."
The three of them walked into the room. An Zhaoyan pointed directly at the densely packed log records on the computer screen and said in a serious tone, "I just checked the complete access records of the laboratory server and found a series of abnormal data packet transmissions."
"Each operation took place late at night, and the receiving IP address pointed to a virtual server overseas."
She took a deep breath and continued, "What they stole was Professor Tian's laboratory's core technology, the design data for the 'neural interference pulse' generator."
"This technology can paralyze all electronic equipment within a certain range in a very short time, and has very high military and civilian value."
Xia Lili and Li Qihan exchanged a solemn glance. An Zhaoyan's fingertips traced the connected logs on the screen. "I tracked the operation time, internal system verification nodes, and permission records, and ultimately pinpointed a person with permission who matched all the time points."
She raised her head and said word by word, "It's Professor Tian's assistant, David Chen."
Li Qihan immediately took out his phone and quickly dialed Detective Evans. His tone was serious and urgent: "Evans, we have just locked up laboratory assistant Chen David on suspicion of stealing sensitive technical data. The evidence is solid."
"Please apprehend him as soon as possible according to the law to prevent the destruction of evidence or his escape."
Detective Evans exclaimed on the other end of the phone, "My God, Mr. Li, your efficiency is amazing! You're getting better and better!"
Li Qihan smiled faintly, his tone carrying a subtle hint of meaning: "It's not that I'm amazing, it's just... it's like I'm being assisted by God."
David Chen's residence wasn't far from the hotel. Half an hour later, Detective Evans sent a message: The person had been successfully apprehended.
After hanging up the phone, Li Qihan turned to Xia Lili and spoke in a slower tone, "Now that the mastermind has been apprehended, can you finally rest in peace?"
Xia Lili couldn't help but yawn, rubbing her eyes and muttering, "I'm going to sleep now..."
The air conditioning in the room was at a suitable temperature, and she was only wearing a thin long-sleeved pajamas.
Li Qihan's eyes inadvertently swept across her empty neck, and he suddenly asked softly, "That Edelweiss necklace... don't you like it?"
"Not good-looking?"
Xia Lili subconsciously lowered her head and touched her empty neck, quickly explaining, "It's not that it doesn't look good! I really like it. I was afraid I'd lose it while skiing today, so I carefully put it away."
She rolled her eyes and immediately turned the tables, "And Captain Li, you're not wearing the Christmas gift I gave you!"
Li Qihan raised his eyebrows slightly, revealing an expression that said, "How dare you bring that up?" His tone was filled with helplessness and disdain. "You gave me that little girl's headband with reindeer antlers and two plush balls hanging from it."
"Xia Lili, do you think I can wear it for a police video conference or go out on the street?"
Li Qihan glanced at her calmly and added, "You're so perfunctory."
Xia Lili immediately pretended to yawn loudly, her eyes wandering: "Ah, I'm so sleepy, let's not talk about it anymore, Captain Li, I really need to sleep!"
Li Qihan didn't say anything more. He turned around and took out a whole box of sleep-aid steam eye masks from his room and stuffed it into her hand: "Room service will bring hot milk later. Remember to drink it, both of you."
After Li Qihan left, An Zhaoyan couldn't help but sigh, "Lili, your cousin is so thoughtful! Unlike my real brother, he can't do anything except snatch food from me."
Xia Lili could only smile awkwardly. It was the first time she had heard someone use the word "caring" to describe the iceberg that was Li Qihan.
The next morning, Xia Lili accompanied An Zhaoyan to the Los Angeles Police Station to cooperate with the record-taking work.
As soon as the two walked into the police station, they saw Professor Tian already waiting there.
As soon as he saw An Zhaoyan, he quickly stepped forward and asked with concern, "Xiao An, are you okay? What happened yesterday was so scary. Are you not hurt?"
His tone was full of gratitude as he continued, “Thank you so much!”
"If you hadn't been so observant and spotted the anomaly in the system logs, I still wouldn't believe that my assistant, who had worked with me for ten years, would actually betray me and secretly sell such important core technical data to a criminal organization!"
An Zhaoyan shook her head and gave a soothing smile: "Thanks to Lili for always being with me, I'm much better now."
After An Zhaoyan followed the police into the interrogation room, Xia Lili learned the whole story from Professor Tian.
It turned out that Professor Tian's assistant Chen David owed a huge debt due to his addiction to gambling.
In order to repay his gambling debts, he took advantage of his position to secretly copy the laboratory's core technology, the relevant data of "neural interference pulses", and planned to sell it to overseas criminal organizations.
During this period, he discovered through background monitoring that An Zhaoyan had also copied some logs. Although he didn't know how much she had discovered, she felt guilty and worried that her behavior had been exposed.
So, Chen David began to plan how to get rid of An Zhaoyan.
He knew that An Zhaoyan loved skiing, so he came up with the idea of creating an "accident" at the ski resort.
He applied for a special fund from a criminal organization that intended to purchase data, and used it to hire someone to commit murder.
Coincidentally, he had met An Zhaoyan's ski coach Thorne in the casino before, and the two hit it off.
The snowy mountain environment is harsh, and it is very easy to disguise an accident. At the same time, it can also be used as an opportunity to search for the encrypted hard drive that An Zhaoyan carries with him, and completely eliminate the hidden dangers.
Xia Lili was still a little confused and asked, "How did the cable car break down? Was it also someone Chen David who tampered with it?"
Professor Tian shook his head, his tone calm but somewhat helpless. "The specific cause is still unclear, and the police are still investigating. After all, it's been less than 24 hours since the incident, so the results won't come out that quickly."
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