Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“You?! Hahahaha…” Gu Yanran looked like she had heard a good joke. She laughed till she was swaying back and forth and until she started to have tears in her eyes.
She only held onto the sofa’s handle to stabilize her body after a while. She said, “Gu Nianzhi, you are too conceited. Even if you are a genius, it’s already reflected in your law major. Do you want to pretend to be a computer master in front of me? Do you think computer skills are like Chinese cabbages? Just because you say you can, do you actually think that you can? Stop being so shameful. You already broke up with Huo Shaoheng, don’t count on him to save you. Wait for my complaint to reach court and see if he would still pay attention to you!”
Gu Yanran knew that a person like Huo Shaoheng who had a military ranking and position resented people with bad reputations that reached the point of a lawsuit.
The moment Gu Nianzhi became the accused, forget about Huo Shaoheng retreating ninety li, but he would certainly not lend a helping hand.
“A summer insect cannot discuss ice. Your intelligence quotient is defective. You are discriminating against people with normal intelligence quotients. That’s a bad habit.” Gu Nianzhi said that in a monotone. The simple words were like throwing fire on a pack of dynamite. They rumbled and exploded in front of Gu Yanran.
Her facial expression suddenly changed. “Who’s intelligence quotient are you talking about?!”
The sound from the cellphone suddenly pierced her ears. It was no longer the gentle and solemn mezzo-soprano ringtone she was used to. It was clear that it touched her sore spot.
Gu Nianzhi found that even more funny. Last time, she’d discovered that Gu Yanran resented the topic of her intelligence quotient. Those clever Gu family members had probably upset her with it since she was young and that had caused her to have a shadow in her heart…
That was why she poked at the shadow in her heart to get twice the result with half the effort.
“Tell me, who am I talking about? You believe whatever other people tell you and you get into a fit of rage because you are humiliated when I say that you have no brain?” Gu Nianzhi hugged her arms around herself. Her voice was even calmer.
“You think you are the only one that’s smart? The website, Weibo, gave me the evidence. You are telling me to not trust the website, Weibo, and to believe you as you talk irresponsibly about nonsense?” Gu Yanran sneered repeatedly. “I won’t let you off the hook this time, Gu Nianzhi. Expect a letter from my lawyer!”
It was actually Weibo’s official website that had provided the evidence?
Immediately, Gu Nianzhi had two reactions. One was that someone had collaborated with Weibo and provided false testimony.
She thought about the level of influence and the scale of the website. By doing that, the losses outweighed the gained. So basically, that possibility could be crossed out.
Then it could only be the second possibility. And that was, it was the same as Hermes’ official website. Weibo had also been hacked by someone. That was why that Weibo account that uploaded the video had showed Gu Nianzhi’s dormitory’s IP address.
Concerning the second possibility, Gu Nianzhi had ways to deal with it.
Gu Nianzhi held the phone further away and waited for Gu Yanran to stop hysterically venting her feelings. Only then did she say, “Just you wait, I will find the real IP and send it to you. Tell the person that’s supporting you clearly that he should be prepared to bring shame and ruin upon himself if he wants to fight with me. Once I make my move, he should wait in front of a crowd and be ready to be exposed. He can never hide behind someone and cause trouble again. Also, if you obstinately persist in going about things the wrong way and still think it was my dormitory’s IP that uploaded your video, then you go ahead and sue me. I will keep you company.”
Gu Nianzhi hung up the phone after she had finished speaking. She temporarily blocked Gu Yanran’s phone number.
Gu Nianzhi knew that someone must have made a false testimony to instigate Gu Yanran into suing her. That was why she’d warned them of everything and hoped that the person would have a better brain than Gu Yanran and not just use the money to harm others…
But she would need a computer if she were to immediately investigate the IP addresses that had come into contact with that Weibo account.
Her own laptop computer was verifying the IP addresses that had come in contact with Hermes’ official website. There was no way that it could do other things at the same time.
Gu Nianzhi lowered her head as she looked at her watch. It was, at that moment, six in the evening. If she moved fast, she could still go to the department store to buy a laptop computer.
Checking the IP address with just a cellphone wouldn’t work. It couldn’t do it fast enough.
She had decided to go out and buy a computer.
At that moment, her phone rang again.
Gu Nianzhi saw that it was He Zhichu calling. She picked up the phone as she was leaving. “Hello, Professor He. What is it?” she asked polietely.
He Zhichu was quiet. He asked, “Nianzhi, where are you?”
“In the dormitory. But I’m heading out right now. If you have something to say, you can just say it.” Gu Ninanzhi was working part-time as He Zhichu’s teaching assistant and aide at the same time. Their work was very much related.
“Heading out? What do you need to do this late? I don’t have anything to do right now. I’ll go with you.” He Zhichu stood up. He couldn’t be at ease with Gu Nianzhi going out alone at night.
Gu Nianzhi quickly said, “There’s no need. I’m just going to the department store near the school to buy a computer.”
“…Don’t you already have a laptop computer? Is yours broken?” He Zhichu grabbed his car keys and also walked out. “I will accompany you to buy a new one.”
“It’s not broken, but one is not enough. Something suddenly came up. That’s why I need to buy one.” When Gu Nianzhi said that she was already inside the elevator.
He Zhichu understood and said, “If that’s the case, come to my place. I have many computers here and they have many functions. You can do anything you want with them.”
Gu Nianzhi made a “huh” sound and hit her forehead. “Oh yeah! Why do I seek from afar what lies close at hand? Okay, Professor He. I will borrow one of your computers!”
She remembered that He Zhichu’s study actually did have two desktop computers that had very powerful functions that could be used as a kind of first-class configuration of local area network computer servers.
Using that kind of computer to check the IP address would probably be much more efficicent.
Gu Nianzhi was extremely happy. She came out of the elevator and quickly walked toward the professor’s building that He Zhichu lived in
When Gu Nianzhi agreed to come to his place, He Zhichu didn’t go out. He went to his study and turned on the computers.
One of the screens was flashing. It showed that a person wanted to communicate with him.
He Zhichu frowned and closed the communication program. He used his phone and called them back.
“Ah Chu, your father wanted me to ask you when you’re coming back.” It was Aunt Qin’s voice. It was mild and soft. Her temperament was very good.
He Zhichu had never seen a person with a better temperament than Aunt Qin. That was why, at that moment, he had mixed feelings.
Although his mother’s temperament was usually optimistic and humorous, when she got angry and and lost her temper, it was earthshaking…
When outsiders saw it, they would always say that his mother’s temper was not as good as Aunt Qin’s. However, in his father’s eyes, his mother was irreplaceable.
Even when she was extremely angry, he would always gladly endure the hardship.
He Zhichu hadn’t understand it before. Only at that moment did he understand the meaning behind it.
He Zhichu’s cool and cold face revealed a little smile. His voice also softened a lot. “If my father misses me, let him call me himself. There’s no need to trouble Aunty Qin.”
“Child, to say this kind of thing to Aunt Qin.” Aunt Qin laughed gently and softly. “Your father is getting older. He was very ill not too long ago. Don’t you want to come back and help him with his responsibilities? The Hes have a big family and a big business. We only have you as our only son and heir. If you don’t help your father, no one can help.”
He Zhichu played with the car key in his hand and said faintly, “My father’s health is still very good. I’m not going back and nothing will happen to the He family. Aunt Qin, I have something I need to do. I’m going to hang up.” After he finished saying that he walked outside and waited for Gu Nianzhi.
When Gu Nianzhi came out of the professor building’s elevator, she saw He Zhichu with his hands in his pants’ pockets. He stood in front of his room with a very elegant and smart posture.
Gu Nianzhi’s eyes were opened wide with confusion. “Professor He, you are leaving? Did I come at a bad time?”
“I was waiting for you,” He Zhichu said in an indifferent manner. “Come in.”
He turned and went inside.
“I’m not used to Professor He being this nice.” Gu Nianzhi laughed happily as she followed He Zhichu inside.
This was He Zhichu’s suite. It was also his classroom and conference room.
All the doctoral students and postgraduates he taught went to class there. Gu Nianzhi even used a little office there.
He Zhichu took her to his study and pointed at the computer with some of the best functions and said, “This computer will satisfy all your needs, no matter what you need to do.”
Gu Nianzhi had used that computer once before and knew that it really was out of the ordinary. Its computing ability was especially powerful. Other computers really couldn’t compare to it.
She happily sat down in front of the computer. She used a flashdrive to transfer her hacking computer program into the computer.
She turned the computer on to start it. It’s speed was so fast that it was like lighting!
If she had used that computer to check the IP address that had logged into Hermes’ online website on that day. She knew that ten minutes would probably be enough.
Those thoughts flashed through Gu Nianzhi’s mind, but they were quickly pushed down
Because the thing was related to Huo Shaoheng, there was no way that she could do anything about it on somebody else’s computer. She could not do it, even if it was on He Zhichu’s computer.
However, investigating Gu Yanran’s video on someone else’s computer didn’t matter.
Anyone’s computer would be fine.
Gu Nianzhi entered Weibo’s website and found that original Weibo account that had uploaded Gu Yanran’s video.
At that moment, the account showed that it had already been canceled by the user.
To most people, there was really nothing they could do if the account was already canceled.
But to a hacker, actions like canceling an account not only revealed what one intended to hide, but it was a lot more convenient to work with than an account that had not been canceled.
On every single website, canceling does not actually delete one’s account. The account is actually moved to an inactive folder outside of the normal safety and security software’s protection range.
That kind of folder’s safety and security measures were much lower than normal accounts. That was exactly what a hacker would want.
Gu Nianzhi turned on the computer program that tested passwords. It only took three seconds to figure out the back-end login password for the account.
The password was deciphered. It was like entering uninhabited land to Gu Nianzhi. She quickly transfered all the frozen content from the canceled account.
She looked at every line of code. She discovered that someone had actually changed the account’s IP address.
At that moment, the account was indeed displaying Gu Nianzhi’s dormitory IP.
“This is what one calls displaying one’s slight skill before an expert.” Gu Nianzhi muttered as she started to strip it down layer by layer to verify the computer program.
She followed the vine to get to the melon. She checked out the IP that the altered account had used to login.
On the internet, everything one does leaves traces behind.
If one wanted to erase the evidence, the perfect way to do so would be to have a complete back-up, just like what Gu Nianzhi had done on Hermes’ official website.
However, she carefully checked that hacker’s behavior and discovered that he hadn’t thought things through.
When Gu Nianzhi checked Weibo’s back-up data from the day before, she found out that the account’s content had not been covered with altered content. The account was still in the condition it was in before it was canceled.
The IP address that had uploaded the video was also recorded on it. Gu Nianzhi recognized it the moment she saw it because she was very familiar with the IP address that had uploaded the video. It was one of the IP addresses that 32 Willow Lane possessed.
32 Willow Lane was the Prime Minister’s Residence.
She had already guessed that the person who’d uploaded Gu Yanran’s video and the person who’d put Gu Yanran’s little movie on the projector were the same. She’d really guessed it right.
After a few moments passed, she found the hacked Weibo account’s altered IP that had uploaded the video and the hacker’s IP.
However, according to the database search, it actually showed that it was an invalid IP that no one had ever used before.
