Chapter 20 Zhuoran
As her consciousness faded, she heard a distant yet familiar voice calling out, again and again. She tried to hear it clearly, but the voice seemed to be separated by a thick layer of fog, making it impossible for her to hear clearly...
“LeLe…”
“LeLe…”
Jiang Le opened his eyes suddenly, and this movement scared Jiang Congyue who was next to him.
She patted her chest and cursed: "What are you doing? You scared me. Don't sleep. We're home. Go back to sleep in the room later."
Jiang Le nodded vaguely, still a little dazed. Perhaps she was truly exhausted, for as soon as she stood up, she felt a sudden wave of dizziness, causing her vision to go black and nearly fall forward. Fortunately, Jiang Congyue was quick to catch her steady.
"You kid, your health is worse than mine." Jiang Congyue helped Jiang Le, whose hands and feet were weak, up with a bit of amusement.
Aunt He had heard the car and quickly brought up two bowls of steaming ginger soup. Seeing Jiang Le's pale face, she exclaimed, "Ah! What happened? Quick, drink it and warm yourself up."
Jiang Le took the bowl and drank the slightly scalding ginger soup in one gulp. The warmth quickly dispelled the chill from her body, and she felt like she was coming back to life, her face regaining some color.
Afterwards, Jiang Congyue urged her to go upstairs to sleep and rest. She fell into a deep sleep almost as soon as her head touched the pillow.
When I woke up, it was already the next day.
She rubbed her swollen temples and got up. Although they didn't have many relatives who needed to be visited, after Jiang Congyue took her to her parents' graves once, they decided to visit the graves every year before the Spring Festival.
Jiang Congyue will be going on a business trip in a few days, so the date was set today.
She washed herself briefly, made sure her face was clean and perfect, and nodded in satisfaction at the mirror.
The second time she came to the cemetery, Jiang Le's mindset was completely different, much calmer. She quietly and carefully brushed away the dead leaves and dust from the gravestones of the two elders, then solemnly placed a bouquet of plain white chrysanthemums.
The two of them remained silent until they started burning paper money. Then Jiang Congyue spoke, "Why aren't you talking? Don't you have anything to say to your parents?"
Jiang Le paused while throwing the paper money, looked up at Jiang Congyue blankly, and said intermittently: "Dad, Mom, I'm doing well, you don't have to worry..."
Jiang Congyue squatted down, took out a stack of paper money, and threw it into the fire little by little. Watching it being swallowed by the curling flames, his voice became distant and gentle: "The two elders are in heaven. Please bless our family Lele to be safe and healthy. No matter what happens in the future, it will be safe and stable, smooth and successful, and turn misfortune into good fortune and disaster into blessing..."
The atmosphere, which should have been dull, was livened up by a series of reduplicated four-character idioms uttered by Jiang Congyue.
Jiang Le stared blankly at Jiang Congyue mumbling a wish, his lips moving but he seemed to be hesitant to speak.
When Jiang Congyue gradually talked about hoping that she could make a fortune and earn 1 billion a day, Jiang Lemei's heart skipped a beat and she finally couldn't help but say, "Jiang Congyue, those are my parents, not the turtle in the wishing well."
Jiang Congyue glared at her and retorted like a villain, "How can you say that? You should speak nicely in front of your elders. Don't worry about what you say."
Jiang Le now understood everything. Jiang Congyue probably had no experience with the process of ancestor worship, and his skills were not much better than hers. They were both completely clueless and were talking nonsense in a serious manner.
The two looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh at the same time. They carefully extinguished the last of the flames, packed up their things, and left the cemetery side by side.
On the way, Jiang Le, carrying the small basket filled with wine and food, asked carefully, "Why don't you go visit your ancestors' graves?"
Jiang Congyue was waving an empty plastic bag boredly. Hearing this, he paused and then replied nonchalantly, "I can't find it. It's been so long, the grave is probably gone."
Knowing that he had said the wrong thing, Jiang Le quickly lowered his head and shut up.
"Hey, I'm already this old. It's time for others to visit my grave. If I go to visit my ancestors again, they will feel sorry for my old bones." Jiang Congyue grinned and nudged Jiang Le, who was pretending to be too cowardly, with his elbow with evil intentions.
Jiang Le staggered and opened his eyes wide, feeling embarrassed and angry, and wanted to hit back. But Jiang Congyue was right, she was old after all, and he was too embarrassed to fight her.
Seeing her wanting to fight back but not daring to, Jiang Congyue couldn't help but burst into laughter. In a good mood, he put his arm around Jiang Le's arm and compared their heights. He sighed, "Our Lele is really getting taller and taller. Now I have to look up to see you. You are almost half a head shorter."
Jiang Le muttered, "That's right, you old bones..."
"Hey!" Jiang Congyue poked her waist unhappily.
Jiang Le was sensitive in that area, and when she poked him, he couldn't hold the basket steadily and couldn't stop laughing.
Can’t I hit or scratch it?
Seeing Jiang Le suddenly become ferocious, Jiang Congyue immediately knew what she was going to do. He didn't care about her age at this moment and ran away.
Jiang Le was stunned, but he was laughing so hard that he couldn't breathe. He chased after him and shouted, "If you have the guts, don't run!"
Jiang Congyue made a face, "Do you think I'm stupid?"
The two chased each other all the way to the car. The huge noise woke up the drowsy driver in front, "?!"
Jiang Congyue and Jiang Le were lying in the car, both with red faces and panting, staring at each other unyieldingly. The scene looked extremely childish.
"..." The driver chuckled twice. "Boss Jiang really looks younger and younger as he gets older. He really should spend more time with young people. I don't even have that much energy."
Hearing this teasing, Jiang Le blushed and turned away, but Jiang Congyue was shameless and came up again, holding Jiang Le's head with ease, and said with a smile: "I'll give in to you next time. Are you still sulking?"
Jiang Le stared at her in disbelief. He was not angry about this at all. Seeing her smug look of confusing right and wrong, Jiang Le simply closed his eyes and stopped arguing with her.
Jiang Congyue naughtily flicked her thick eyelashes and couldn't help but sigh, "Look at these long eyelashes, look at this high nose bridge, look at this iconic little face..."
She praised her face from top to bottom, inside and out, in a riotous stream, breaking even the most capable sleeper. Jiang Le couldn't help herself, her lips curled up, and she opened her eyes to look at her in reproach. She always loved to hear people praise her beauty.
The driver watched her interaction through the rearview mirror and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. The child who was so thin, reserved and timid when she first came has been raised by Boss Jiang to be so lively.
What was originally just what she was thinking in her heart was clearly and completely transmitted to Jiang Le's ears. She buried her face in the crook of Jiang Congyue's neck a little embarrassedly, and the tips of her ears were very red and hot.
Jiang Congyue also saw it, and thought that she was blushing because of her own words. The smile on her face became even brighter. She hugged Jiang Le, patted her back, and hummed softly.
For the rest of the winter break, Jiang Le enrolled in a driving school and went to practice every day. She was a quick learner, and she spent the entire winter break zipping around behind the wheel and on the accelerator and brakes.
This time Jiang Congyue didn't have time to see her off, so the two of them talked on the phone for three hours, and Jiang Le was forced to hang up only after she got on the plane.
–
I don't know who proposed it first, but the four people in their dormitory decided to work on a project together.
After the team officially rented a small office space and completed the registration under the name [Zhuoran], this college student entrepreneurship studio of a certain scale was established.
Jiang Le and Guli have some funds and are good at budget allocation and marketing; Milin is a technical geek and is responsible for all technical development; Wen Qiqi is meticulous and specializes in legal compliance and contract review.
The four people are like precisely meshing gears, each doing their own job and cooperating with each other in perfect harmony.
Initially, they used the small games developed by Milin as the basic products, with Jiang Le and Guli responsible for expanding external business cooperation.
However, by their junior year, this group had already established a preliminary reputation in the industry with their clear division of labor and efficient execution.
Later, the business became more and more successful. The ambitious young people decided to go all out and recruited some familiar and capable junior schoolmates to work together to develop a larger-scale game.
The studio's business is booming, and the four young founders, like eagles spreading their wings and about to soar into the sky, are devoting all their energy to this project full of potential.
Jiang Le is mainly responsible for external business cooperation and fund management. She demonstrates business acumen that is inconsistent with her age. This ability is largely due to Jiang Congyue's subtle teaching over the years. Coupled with her skill of mind reading, she is always at ease at the negotiation table.
After the work came to a temporary end, Jiang Le and Jiang Congyue were able to make a video call to chat.
Jiang Congyue on the other end couldn't help but joke, "I heard that Mr. Jiang is very capable in business now. I've heard the news. So, is there any chance for us to discuss cooperation?"
Jiang Le put down the documents in his hand and smiled at Jiang Congyue on the other side of the screen: "Hey, Mr. Jiang, please stop making fun of us. We are just a small fight, how can we catch your eye?"
Guli and Wen Qiqi couldn't help but smile, and suddenly they were full of energy!
As the two of them were joking with each other, the office door was pushed open with a bang. Milin rushed in with a pale face and a distorted voice: "Oh no! Our server has been hacked!"
Everyone was stunned.
Wen Qiqi was the first to react: "Where's the data? Has any user data been leaked?"
"We're still investigating, but the core code has definitely been stolen." Milin's voice was trembling with panic. "They left a message demanding 500,000 yuan, or they'll release the code."
Guli stood up suddenly. "Blackmail? Call the police!"
"Wait." Jiang Le calmly held her down. "Don't worry. Milin, can you trace the source?"
Milin shook his head. "They're very professional. They've used multiple layers of proxies and springboards to hide very well... I... I can't do anything..."
The office was completely silent. They had poured their heart and soul into this project, and if the code were leaked, not only would all their efforts be wasted, but they could also face huge claims from investors.
Jiang Le subconsciously looked for help at Jiang Congyue who was still on the phone, and the rest of the people looked over at the same time.
From the completely silent room, Jiang Congyue's voice, still gentle but remarkably clear and calm, could be heard: "Don't panic, children. The sky won't fall. Listen to me, and do as I say now."
Her voice seemed strangely soothing. "First, don't pay any ransom. It will only make things worse. Second, contact a cybersecurity expert immediately. I have a friend who's an authority on this subject. I'll send you his contact information right away. Third, check your backup system to see when the last full backup was performed."
"Also," Jiang Congyue added, "don't forget that your greatest asset isn't your code, it's your creativity and your team. Even if the worst happens, you can always start over, right?"
Jiang Congyue is always like this, able to remain calm in the center of the storm, explain solutions while giving people a sense of security, and occasionally make a few jokes to liven up the atmosphere.
Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, their hearts sinking. In their panic, they had almost forgotten they had such a powerful and resilient supporter.
For the next 48 hours, the four of them worked almost non-stop.
With the remote assistance of the authoritative expert that Jiang Congyue urgently contacted, they not only successfully tracked the hacker's true identity and IP address.
What was even more surprising was that they discovered that this was not a simple ransomware attack, but that a rival company was behind it, intending to steal core technology through this malicious means and even to bring them down.
Wen Qiqi pushed up her glasses, flipped through the collected electronic evidence and legal provisions, and said calmly, "The evidence is conclusive. We can sue them immediately."
"That will take a long time, and our project can't wait." Guli frowned.
Jiang Le pondered for a long time, and suddenly his eyes lit up: "Maybe we can take advantage of this crisis."
Three days later, a carefully prepared press conference was held in their office.
Jiang Le stood in front of the media and calmly recounted the entire process of the hacker attack, and demonstrated on the spot how their game was rebuilt from the ruins to become more perfect.
"This unexpected experience has made us deeply aware of the importance of cybersecurity to startups and the entire industry," Jiang Le announced calmly, facing the camera. "Therefore, we've decided to open source some of the rebuilt, non-core code modules. We've also taken this opportunity to establish a 'Cybersecurity Scholarship' for college students, hoping to contribute to cultivating more defensive cybersecurity talent."
This move won widespread praise from the industry. What was initially a crisis turned into the perfect publicity opportunity, with their game gaining traction before its official launch, and the number of pre-registered users skyrocketing overnight.
After the press conference, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Jiang Le received a call in the office.
"You performed well, Mr. Jiang." Jiang Congyue's voice was filled with smiles.
"Well, it's all thanks to Teacher Jiang's good teaching." Jiang Le also smiled, and his tone became softer.
"Stop," Jiang Congyue interrupted her, "You can tell me what you're capable of. Don't flatter me. By the way, I'll be visiting you on a business trip next week. You kids, remember to treat me to a meal."
Jiang Le was on the hands-free mode but didn't avoid them.
Guli heard this and laughed loudly, then shouted proudly, "Aunt Jiang, you've helped me so much, it's no problem for me to book the whole restaurant!"
——
Jiang Congyue:39
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