(3K Nutrient Solution)

Bai Jike: ...

How should he put it? No one should have been more familiar with this app than him...

Seeing Bai Jike's hesitant expression, Qiao Huan hesitated instead.

It was just like the genuine reaction of a young man caught up in an online scam without realizing it, suddenly caught red-handed.

Then Qiao Huan put on his most tactful tone:

"Bai Jike, is your family having some kind of trouble?"

Xiao Bai's brain was spinning at full speed as he tried to find a way out, and even a wisp of blue smoke rose beside the cowlick on his head.

Hearing Qiao Huan offer him a way out, Xiao Bai nodded earnestly. "Yes, my family's having a hard time."

Qiao Huan said, "How about I front you some money—"

Before he finished, another mechanical announcement came from the computer.

Xiao Bai's eyes widened.

Because the alert wasn't a game sound effect from the scam website, but from the online bank he had just logged into...

"New payment received. Amount: 500,000 yuan. Sender: Home."

Qiao Huan: ?

Things took another step in a strange direction.

Qiao Huan asked, "That's money your family sent you? In yuan?"

Lying was the thing Bai Jike was worst at, and with Qiao Huan staring at him, he was already panicking.

It was a reward for reporting criminals he had found online. He had filed so many reports that he had gotten to know the relevant department, so they had simply put down "Home" as the sender.

Qiao Huan's tone turned cold. "Your family's this rich, and you still need to make money playing this kind of game?"

What was this guy, anyway?

Bai Jike immediately denied it. "It's not for the money..."

It was for the peace and stability of the motherland's online environment.

"And you came to be a trainee, too?" Seeing how reluctant he was to talk, Qiao Huan could only come up with a reason for him. "Was it to prove yourself?"

Bai Jike finally nodded. "You could say that."

In an instant, he followed Qiao Huan's train of thought and imagined himself as a rebellious young man from a well-off family.

To prove he could stand on his own without his family, he had entered the entertainment industry alone, only to nearly fall into the abyss of an online scam.

Perfectly reasonable, though there were still a few details to fill in...

"Coking coal falls on the plain," Qiao Huan blurted out.

Xiao Bai was still thinking about how to spin his lie when Qiao Huan suddenly came out with that random sentence, leaving him stunned.

"Hmm???"

His big eyes were full of confusion. It was utterly genuine.

Only then did Qiao Huan relax.

Sure enough, he wasn't Bai Jike.

Mm. Luckily, it wasn't him.

He had just given Bai Jike a way out to make him lower his guard.

Then he had given him the start of a lie, and while Bai Jike was distracted making up a story along those lines, he had suddenly spoken the first line on that coded note.

In his many years of undercover experience, no matter how good the other person's acting was, it would have been impossible to fake a reaction amid such a jumble of thoughts.

And Bai Jike's reaction... had indeed been pretty dopey.

Bai Jike had no idea he had been thoroughly played. He only thought he had misheard. "What did you say?"

"Nothing." Qiao Huan smiled and waved a hand. "Just something that came to mind."

"Oh."

Qiao Huan's expression turned serious again. "But no matter what your family circumstances are, I'd still like to find time to talk to you about preventing telecom fraud."

Bai Jike said, "...Okay."

Actually, no one understands telecom fraud better than I do.

As he was thinking that, the electronic announcement drifted out again...

"New payment received. Amount: 500,000 yuan. Sender's message: Hope you come home soon!"

The room instantly fell silent again, so quiet a pin could be heard dropping.

Black lines covered Xiao Bai's face.

Lao Liu, who handled payments for the relevant department, really was a sneaky bastard. Even if they knew each other well, he couldn't just be this casual!

Qiao Huan knew the other man was probably hiding some secret... Could his family really be that rich?

But when he had read Bai Jike's statement before, it had clearly said he grew up in an orphanage. Qiao Tang had also checked, and the orphanage in question did have records.

Qiao Huan understood.

Scam rings generally liked to call their targets family, loved ones, and things like that.

These two payments were probably the other side's investment in the initial baiting phase. They had to give the target a little something to get him to bite.

As a public servant, he couldn't just watch a fine young man walk into the abyss of online scams.

Even if this particular ring did seem pretty generous.

So Qiao Huan softened his tone:

"Xiao Bai, even if you need money, you can't take shortcuts just because you're young. Don't go on this website anymore, all right?"

Bai Jike's cheeks flushed red. "I didn't take any shortcuts!"

Qiao Huan said, "Then you..."

"Is someone in there?"

The administrator's voice came from outside.

Xiao Bai was still anxious to explain. "I, I—"

"Never mind that!" Qiao Huan grabbed Xiao Bai's sleeve. "Run!"

"Hurry up!"

Pei Dahai shouted impatiently at the editor.

The editor said, "Dahai-ge, I'm already doing my best. The first episode of 'OSOK: Birth of a New Star' is really hard to edit, and that's before cutting out you-know-who's footage. Look at the bags under my eyes. They're practically down to my waistband!"

"Ai!"

Of course Pei Dahai knew how hard the editor was working. He was only losing his temper to let off some steam.

He had originally thought that with Shi Xingzhou down, the lingering popularity of Deserted Island could help OSOK's little in-house talent show gain more attention.

But it was one thing for all the footage of his own artists to be cut after they joined the show. The real problem was that other entertainment companies and platforms had seized the window when filming for Deserted Island's second episode was suspended and launched similar Battle Royale variety shows one after another.

For a while, official announcements for all kinds of shows came one after another, firmly capturing the audience's attention. Pei Dahai no longer had to worry about the negative attention Star Radiance was getting—now they had no attention at all.

That was why he was so anxious to get their show out while yesterday's livestream of push-ups and impromptu singing was still getting attention.

But he also knew that even with trainees like Xiu Si, Li Xun, and Hu Bin bringing their own traffic, their show couldn't beat the flashy new variety shows on other platforms.

Finally, after Pei Dahai and the young editor had tormented each other for several hours, they managed to throw the first episode of "OSOK: Birth of a New Star" onto the official website.

Sure enough, just as he had expected, apart from some fans, there were barely any viewers.

Even the occasional casual viewer who showed up only praised their looks and the like.

Pei Dahai had already stayed up all night. Now he finally couldn't take it anymore and sank to the floor, savoring failure and loneliness.

How could he make a perfectly ordinary in-house talent show entertaining?

Qiao Huan and Bai Jike had both good luck and bad.

The good: the staff patrolling the computer room hadn't discovered them.

The bad: they had barely escaped to the track when they ran into Jiang Ting.

Jiang Ting asked, "What are you two doing?"

The two shook their heads in unison, entirely in agreement about keeping the secret.

"Not talking, huh?" Jiang Ting smiled. "Since you like running, run to your hearts' content. Ten kilometers. Get ready!"

The two answered, "Yes, sir!"

Jiang Ting: ?

"Shouldn't you two come clean? You're still not going to say what you were doing? That's ten kilometers!"

Without the slightest hesitation, they answered, "Yes, sir!"

Running was much easier than telling him what had just happened!

The track had soaked up a full day of sunlight, and in the evening heat radiated from its very foundation, making it unbearably stifling.

Some of the kinder instructors weren't even willing to train their companies there, instead having them stand in several rows in the shade of the trees nearby.

So everyone watched Qiao Huan and Bai Jike run as they trained.

"What'd you do wrong, guys?"

"Yeah! Why run in the blazing sun? Just own up already!"

"Want us to bring you a couple of bottles of water? I just bought them frozen from the store. They're so nice and cold!"

Of course they wouldn't miss the chance to tease the newcomers. Every one of them was being mischievous and having a wonderful time.

"Xiao Bai, you OK?" Qiao Huan asked as they ran.

"Mm." Xiao Bai's face was bright red, but it clearly wasn't from exhaustion.

The two ran lap after lap. Qiao Huan reckoned they had covered about two or three kilometers, which wasn't much of a problem yet.

Bai Jike, on the other hand, seemed to be struggling a little. After all, he had always worked in tech before. Even though he had trained after volunteering to go undercover, running for this long wasn't easy for him.

Not to mention all the people staring at him.

Not far away, Zhuo Yang had just come out of the gym. Seeing the crowd packed around the edge of the track, he immediately joined them.

"What's going on, brother?" Zhuo Yang asked a spectator.

"Two stubborn idiots wouldn't talk, so they're being punished."

"Running in this weather is rough." Zhuo Yang smacked his lips.

"Isn't it? I reckon those two are about done for."

At first, Zhuo Yang was too far away to make out the two runners, and he watched the spectacle with a gossip-loving attitude.

Then the two ran up to him, and Zhuo Yang's burly frame jolted—

"Damn!"

The ones being punished were Qiao Huan and Bai Jike?

"What's wrong, buddy?" The spectator jumped. "You okay...?"

Before he had finished speaking, Zhuo Yang had already charged out, leaving only an afterimage behind.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Jiang Ting was stunned to see Zhuo Yang charge straight onto the track. "I didn't tell you to run!"

"If they're being punished, punish me too!" Zhuo Yang didn't care that he had just showered and smelled fresh all over. He went straight over and joined the punishment run.

"Tired?" Zhuo Yang asked, running ahead of the two.

Qiao Huan knew he was breaking the wind for him and Bai Jike, making it easier for them to run.

"We're okay. Thanks."

When the three had run about four kilometers together, the bell rang, and the afternoon's training ended.

But the people who had finished training didn't go to the cafeteria. Instead, they gathered at the edge of the track and watched the three run.

At first, they were still there to enjoy the spectacle, jeering and making a few jokes now and then.

But the three ran longer and longer without slowing down. Some of the numbers-minded spectators even kept count for them: they had already run more than five kilometers!

The people around them instantly held the three brothers in awe. Never mind that they could maintain their speed over that distance; the brotherhood they showed by staying together and taking turns breaking the wind in formation was admirable enough!

Ye Yiwei finally finished tidying the dorm and came to the track, planning to exercise for a while when it was less crowded with everyone off eating.

Then he saw three familiar faces.

"Those three are really close, getting punished together."

"Yeah, everyone knows the more people there are, the less effort running takes!"

"I'm jealous, so jealous. My brothers only know how to steal my ice water..."

His training today hadn't quite met his target anyway. Without thinking much of it, Ye Yiwei joined the three.

Jiang Ting was utterly speechless. Recalling what his older brother had said that morning, these four really were interesting.

If you said they were close, none of them looked at the others while running; if you said they weren't, they all vied for the windbreaking position to save their teammates some effort.

It was supposed to be a punishment, but the four of them had turned it into something pretty stirring.

But Jiang Ting clearly hadn't expected the fervor to increase exponentially.

Li Xun, Hu Bin, and the others had also finished eating. They had originally planned to take a stroll around the track to help digest their food, only to find so many people gathered there.

They had thought Xiu Si was giving himself extra training, but after asking around, they learned that only Qiao Huan and Bai Jike had been punished. Zhuo Yang and Ye Yiwei had only joined in to take the lead and break the wind for them!

Li Xun gritted his teeth. "No, we can't lose!"

Hu Bin said, "Hey..."

Before he had finished speaking, Li Xun had already charged onto the track.

"How many laps left?" Li Xun asked.

"Four and a half kilometers," Instructor Jiang said, puzzled. "What, are you going to take the punishment with them too?"

"Yes!"

Just like that, the four from 403 also volunteered to join the punishment run.

But that wasn't all.

The four from 402 had asked around and finally made it to the track.

Without needing to think, they joined the punishment run too.

And so it went from two people at the start, to three, and now to twelve.

All of Star Radiance was running as punishment, taking turns breaking the wind. For a moment, the whole group looked almost like a mighty procession.

Pei Dahai had been deep in depression that day, even wondering whether he was cut out to be a manager at all.

After dinner, he had only wanted to come out for a smoke and mope, but a call from Jiang Ji had brought him to the track, where he happened to witness this scene.

Heat rose from the track, and from a distance, the steam blurred the view, giving it a dreamlike, almost unreal quality.

Twelve young men ran with all their might, their heads drenched in sweat.

The golden setting sun shone on their determined faces as they ran. Sweat slid down their cheeks, becoming one with the red track.

Breathe.

Swing their arms.

Forward.

At this moment, there was no scheming and deception of the entertainment industry, no worrying about whether they looked good or pretty drenched in sweat, no mutual recriminations—only pure competition.

It wasn't the dirty, underhanded kind of competition common in the entertainment industry, but the foolhardy, hot-blooded spirit unique to youth.

—You're fast, and I want to beat you and take the lead. I won't trip you up to do it; I'll run with all my might and be faster than you!

Before this, Pei Dahai had only been thinking about how to make the internal selection show entertaining, how to create conflict, reversals, and vicious feuds to draw everyone's attention.

But in this instant, he seemed to touch upon something he had thought about before, yet had always overlooked.

The essence of an idol.

"What do you think?" Jiang Ji had also hurried over after receiving a message from his younger brother. He wiped away his sweat. "What I told you before was right, wasn't it?"

Pei Dahai had been watching in a daze. It took him a while to nod. "Yes."

Jiang Ji smiled with relief. "We can't train them using that same old method imported from abroad, much less follow Shi Xingzhou and his father's wishes and foster that sick kind of internal competition. These are the young men who fit the next era here."

Singing, dancing, stages, and albums were of course the foundations of a boy band.

But there was more... spirit.

Some people's youth, their growth and changes, were worth remembering in themselves.

Pei Dahai hurriedly called over a camera operator to capture this beautiful scene.

At the same time, the twelve people on the track finally finished their ten kilometers.

For Qiao Huan, running ten kilometers wasn't actually difficult.

But getting a whole group of fellow trainees to run it together was another matter.

Though in the end they had practically dragged and pulled one another along, walking and crawling, what mattered was that they had finished!

"Yay!" The trainees were already exhausted, but they still lay on the ground and celebrated at the tops of their voices. Some were so excited that they even piled on top of one another.

They were riding the rush of post-exercise dopamine and were genuinely happy. As for their image and things like that, those had long since ceased to matter.

Li Xun forced himself up and walked over to Qiao Huan and the others. "I admit defeat. I'm completely convinced. If it weren't for you four, we wouldn't have had this much fun in ages!"

"Huh?"

Of course, Qiao Huan and the other three had no idea what changes Li Xun had gone through in his heart, but this wasn't the time or place to ask, so they simply nodded.

"Let's keep improving together from now on."

Sincerity shone in Li Xun's eyes.

Over the next few days, the trainees gradually felt that the atmosphere among them had changed.

Before, their lives as trainees had mostly been accompanied by immense pressure and rivalry: competitions between groups and classes of different levels, battles for debut spots and the center position, and even the mentors encouraging them, both openly and subtly, to form cliques and compete against one another.

But now, their daily lives were neatly divided into three parts: formation training in the morning, specialized arts training of various kinds in the afternoon, and extra physical training and games in the evening.

As a result, everyone's days were packed. The evening physical training in particular squeezed the very last drop of strength out of these young men, leaving them no time to think about anything else.

This was, of course, the plan Jiang Ji, Jiang Ting, Pei Dahai, and Tao Zhenting had settled on after discussing it.

This time, they wanted to try creating a boy band that was a little different from the moment of its "birth."

Li Xun felt the difference most keenly. He had never imagined that a trainee's life could be so... positive.

There was no need to scheme against his fellow trainees or trip them up. All he had to do was train hard every day and improve himself.

He was most grateful to Xiu Si. As he gradually began hanging out with them, he discovered that none of the four cared to hog the spotlight, and they were happy to share their training tips with him.

But this gradually began to strike his longtime buddy Hu Bin as strange.

Li Xun came from a well-off family, and his height, build, and looks were all outstanding. His singing and dancing were also above average among the trainees. In all their years as good friends, Hu Bin had never heard of Li Xun admitting anyone was better than him.

Could he be putting on an act, playing the pig to eat the tiger?

One evening in the second week, it was raining heavily. Everyone had largely grown accustomed to this regular routine and guessed that in weather like this, it would be time for indoor games. But then Pei Dahai and Jiang Ji suddenly appeared.

Pei Dahai didn't look as relaxed as he had the past couple of days. "Have you heard the recent city news?"

Everyone shook their heads. They had been focused on their daily training and hadn't paid any attention to news from outside.

"A fire broke out at the Huixin Welfare Institute in City A yesterday. Luckily, the fire department arrived in time, and there were no casualties," Pei Dahai said, his expression growing serious. "But there are many children and elderly people there. Because of today's heavy rain, they couldn't be transferred in time, so they can only stay in makeshift tents for now."

"Worst of all, the rain has washed out the roads, so a lot of food can't be delivered there tonight."

Zhuo Yang asked anxiously, "What do we do, then?"

"Since the Huixin Welfare Institute is right nearby, all the staff and most of the people training at Azure Dragon Base have gone to help," Jiang Ji took over, raising his voice. "Can we stand aside?"

"No!"

The twelve trainees answered in unison.

They didn't know why either. At that moment, they weren't thinking about anything else; their blood had suddenly surged, and they had agreed on the spot.

Pei Dahai smiled with relief.

After all, let alone a major group like Star Radiance, even small entertainment companies were unwilling to let their artists do things like this.

—Making a show of ordinary donations or volunteer teaching was one thing, but the rain was so heavy today, and they would be working in the dark. One careless move could lead to an injury or an accident.

Azure Dragon Base had also said they didn't need to help, and Pei Dahai himself hadn't wanted the trainees to go either. He had even argued with Jiang Ji over it.

In the end, they had decided to ask everyone what they thought.

And everyone had agreed with such high spirits.

The rain that night was simply too heavy, and transportation was inconvenient in many ways, so the twelve trainees put on raincoats and ran to Huixin instead.

Fortunately, it wasn't far, only about a kilometer. By the time they arrived, work at the scene was already proceeding in an orderly manner under the volunteers' direction.

"How did you get here?" Zhao Jun asked. He was the person in charge here.

"We ran!" Li Xun said. "Is there anything we can help with?"

Zhao Jun stared for a moment. The twelve young men all looked fair and clean-cut, and the road from Qinglong to here was difficult enough to travel even without the heavy rain. Yet these people were barely out of breath?

"What organization are you from?" Zhao Jun asked again. "Forest rangers? Rescue workers?"

"We're from Star Radiance. We're not really a squad, more of a gang at most." Li Xun laughed. "What, sir, are we that cool?"

"Star Radiance? The entertainment company?" Zhao Jun was stunned for a moment.

He had only heard that a company had sent some artists over for training and had thought it was just a gimmick. He hadn't expected these young men to come and help!

They were even among the first to arrive!

But as a member of the older generation, he had all sorts of prejudices against young idols. He didn't even like his daughter in college following celebrities... so naturally, he was a little wary as he looked at the dozen or so people before him.

Could they be here to grab some camera time and put on a show?

Seeing Zhao Jun's expression cloud over, Zhuo Yang stepped forward. "Sir, just tell us. What can we help with?"

Zhao Jun thought for a moment and decided to give them the easiest job. "Go check the tent area for the elderly and children. See if any are leaking or unstable. Other people are already handling things like carrying food and repairing the road."

The twelve were ready to take on whatever came, their fighting spirit high. "Okay!"

The tent area itself wasn't very large. There were roughly two elderly people or four children per tent, with about sixty tents in all.

The twelve divided into three groups by dormitory again. Each group was responsible for checking twenty tents, exactly one vertical row.

"How about we see who can finish checking first?" Li Xun asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Okay." Qiao Huan had recently grown used to Li Xun's presence. "Most of the elderly people and children are asleep, so don't just focus on speed. Be gentle."

"Of course!"

With that, the three groups immediately split up.

Hu Bin hurried over to Li Xun and asked, "What's the plan?"

He kept feeling that Li Xun must still be competing with Xiu Si.

Little A and Little B, who shared their dormitory, also looked at him, waiting for instructions.

Li Xun looked serious. "Just check properly. Even if we lose to Xiu Si, we have to lose fair and square!"

The three of them said, "Huh?"

"What?"

"...Nothing."

Meanwhile, Xiu Si also split into two pairs. Qiao Huan turned down Zhuo Yang's invitation to team up and instead stole Ye Yiwei's trusty partner, Bai Jike.

There was already a somewhat strange atmosphere between Ye Yiwei and Zhuo Yang, like the natural incompatibility between a rough straight guy and a refined artist. But both felt that Qiao Huan must have had a deeper meaning in arranging things this way, so neither objected, intending only to focus on the task.

Bai Jike, however, stood beside Qiao Huan with his thoughts in turmoil.

He was anxious.

After Qiao Huan had caught him red-handed in the computer room that day, his own quick wits had fortunately convinced Qiao Huan that he was a rich, rebellious young man, making him drop his guard.

After that, he had quietly gone to the computer room every night. He had been on the verge of successfully locating that "If you're my brother, slash me to death" website, only to be dragged to the welfare institute tonight.

Scam websites were extremely cunning. They had already noticed what he was doing, and it was quite possible they would move the server tonight.

Bai Jike's anxiety showed in the way he checked the tents. He walked faster and faster, practically leaving after a hasty glance.

Then, as he entered the third tent, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

There was a computer here, donated by a charitable organization!

Qiao Huan walked up beside him just then, his brows tightly furrowed.

"Jike, my stomach doesn't feel well. Can you help me check these tents? I'll be back as soon as I can."

Xiao Bai's eyes lit up, and he immediately nodded. "Okay!"

Great!

So, as soon as Qiao Huan stepped out, Bai Jike turned on the computer.

A battle of attack and defense in the world of data immediately began.

Bai Jike grew more and more adept as he worked. Within minutes, his opponent had been cut down from his horse. Even he hadn't realized his competitive spirit could become this strong once aroused...

Whew—

Bai Jike let out a long breath, feeling as though a weight had been lifted.

He closed the screen, rolled his aching neck, and turned around. He froze instantly.

Qiao Huan's figure almost blended into the darkness of the night as he smiled at him. "Did you win?"

Xiao Bai felt as though his brain had exploded...

Could it be that Qiao Huan had never left?

Had he been watching him the whole time just now???

In fact, after Qiao Huan's brief chat with Bai Jike that day, he had kept feeling that something wasn't quite right.

Bai Jike indeed hadn't written the password on that slip of paper, but that didn't mean there was no "problem" with him.

He was certain those payments of 500,000 couldn't have come from a scam ring. In his anxiety at the time, he had thought about it too simply.

So, over the next few days, he followed Bai Jike again.

It was partly Bai Jike's own fault: he was simply too young and inexperienced, and on top of that, he thought he had figured out the computer room patrol officer's working hours, so he grew bolder about going in and out.

It was only when Qiao Huan quietly followed him last night and saw that Bai Jike wasn't just "playing games" the whole time, but had brought up a black-and-green code interface, that he came up with a very bold guess.

Just now, he had noticed the look in Bai Jike's eyes when he saw the computer in the tent, so he had deliberately said he was going to the bathroom to lure the snake out of its hole.

Now.

Bai Jike's entire body had frozen on the spot.

He slowly looked at Qiao Huan.

The man merely had his hands in his pockets and was leaning lazily against a post, but in Xiao Bai's eyes, he was terrifying beyond belief.

"Xiao Bai," Qiao Huan said in a low voice, "do you know that those telecom scammers not only harm their victims, but also themselves and their families?"

Xiao Bai had originally made up his mind to let whatever Qiao Huan said go in one ear and out the other and remain stubbornly unmoved, but he hadn't expected Qiao Huan to say something like that.

He had only paid attention to how to find those scammers before, never considering what their world might be like.

That one short sentence pierced straight through his mental defenses and seized his attention.

"Some of those people are forced into it, and their circumstances really are miserable, but most are simply driven by greed," Qiao Huan said slowly, drawing on his previous experience. "Most of them have families. They leave their wives and children or husbands and children, and even their elderly parents, back home, lying to their families that they're going away to make big money while doing illegal work."

"People like that don't deserve any sympathy at all. They treat their victims as nothing more than tools for making money, never considering that the victims might also be in desperate need of that money, much less what their own families' lives will be like after they're caught." Qiao Huan patted Bai Jike on the shoulder. "So, thank you. You've actually saved a lot of people."

After spending so much time together, Qiao Huan could tell from Bai Jike's clothes and behavior alone that he wasn't someone greedy for money, so naturally he wasn't doing this for the reward money.

That was why he had decided to approach the subject gradually from the perspective of the scammers' families. He wanted to know Bai Jike's motive for doing this.

But when a master made a move, a touch was enough.

Seeing Bai Jike's reaction, Qiao Huan knew that he actually hadn't thought that much about it.

"So, is it an interest, or... something else?" Qiao Huan asked casually. "Why did you come to be a trainee?"

Bai Jike looked at him in disbelief. "How did you know—"

Qiao Huan sighed and took Bai Jike's hand.

"I noticed before that you always had a habit of pulling your hands into your sleeves. I only got a clear look while we were checking the tents just now." Qiao Huan turned his palm upward. "You even have calluses on your wrists. If you haven't been practicing an instrument, then you've been working awfully hard at coding."

Qiao Huan repeated the question. "Why did you come to Star Radiance?"

Xiao Bai was at a loss for words for a moment.

There wasn't really a reason. As a technician, he wasn't supposed to do fieldwork like this.

He had simply discovered some overseas accounts belonging to Star Radiance's upper management, and, with the youthful spirit of someone from the jianghu, wanted to bring those people to justice.

But he wasn't ready to tell Qiao Huan his true identity yet.

As the atmosphere grew tense, he caught a fleeting glimpse of Li Xun passing by the window and suddenly thought of something the other man had often said recently.

Bai Jike said, "I want to do more. That's all."

He didn't mean it in the same way Li Xun did, but he was sincere.

Qiao Huan was slightly taken aback.

—He wanted to expand his influence? That made sense.

"Then keep at it."

Bai Jike answered firmly, "Of course."

Qiao Huan smiled again. "You never know. I might need your help someday."

"With what?"

"Just some small matters. I'm keeping your secret for you, so I ought to get something in return, right?"

Qiao Huan thought that since Bai Jike had a heart devoted to serving the people, perhaps he could give him a bigger stage in the future.

After all, the earlier incident had proved that the "half-baked" Anti-Hate Station Qiao Tang had organized for him wasn't as invincible as they had imagined.

Bai Jike grinned. It was the first time he had smiled so happily since coming here.

"Okay."

He hadn't spent much time around people his own age, let alone someone as mysterious as Qiao Huan.

But sharing a secret with him was pretty cool, and it didn't go against his principles of keeping his undercover work confidential.

Seeing Bai Jike's expression, Qiao Huan couldn't help smiling too.

He had been undercover for so long that he hadn't spent much time around normal people his own age either.

In a way, Qiao Huan and Bai Jike were alike: both had spent a long time alone in their own closed-off little worlds.

At that moment, two little seashells each opened a tiny crack and blew a friendly little bubble toward the other.

Pop.

Thinking that he would have some "outside help" in the future, Qiao Huan felt much more at ease.

Suddenly, someone tugged at the hem of his clothes.

He looked down to see a child from the welfare home staring up at him with wide eyes.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?" Qiao Huan glanced around the tent. "Your friends are all asleep."

"Big brother..." The little boy's eyes flickered, seemingly glistening with tears. "I just heard you talking, and I wanted to ask: if your dad committed telecom fraud, how long would he stay in prison?"

"Huh?"

It took Qiao Huan a moment to understand.

Many of the "de facto orphans*" in this welfare home had likely come here after their parents were thrown into prison.

Qiao Huan had intended to brush him off with some pretty words, but the little boy could name telecom fraud precisely...

So he bent down and said seriously, "I'm not sure either. It depends on your fa... on the severity of his crime. The sentence would be different."

"Oh..." The little boy lowered his head. "Thank you, big brother."

Looking at the little boy's expression, Bai Jike suddenly felt a ** in his heart.

"What's your father's name? I'll see if I can look it up... ask about it for you," Bai Jike said.

At that, the little boy's face lit up with delight.

Qiao Huan, however, was surprised.

Bai Jike himself was stunned too.

Perhaps it was because of what Qiao Huan had said earlier about the families of fraudsters as an opening remark, or perhaps because he now shared a secret with Qiao Huan, or perhaps because he was facing a child...

Bai Jike had never shown such concern for a human before. He seemed never to have spoken so many words so fluently to anyone, either.

Afraid that Bai Jike might be lying to him, the little boy quickly found a scrap of paper and wrote down a name.

Bai Jike crouched down and carefully put the paper away. "I'll go... ask around. I'll definitely come back to see you."

"Okay!"

Qiao Huan and Bai Jike spent a little longer comforting the boy before leaving the tent.

Bai Jike's thoughts were still elsewhere. He felt as though he had opened two extraordinary floodgates tonight...

Sure enough, interacting with people helped him grow. His counselor hadn't lied to him!

Qiao Huan was just about to remind him of a few more things when Ye Yiwei and Zhuo Yang arrived.

"You two are so slow!" Zhuo Yang complained. "Mr. Ye and I have already finished checking all the remaining tents."

Seeing that something was off with Bai Jike, Ye Yiwei asked worriedly, "Feeling unwell? Are you sick?"

Before he had finished speaking, another voice came from behind them. "What? I thought we'd finally beaten Xiu Si, but you have someone injured?"

Li Xun, Hu Bin, and the others had also arrived with the trainees from 402.

Now several more gazes converged on Bai Jike.

Bai Jike's face turned red in an instant. "..."

Click. The two doors seemed to close quite a bit again.

Qiao Huan stepped in to smooth things over for the socially anxious youth:

"It's nothing. One of the kids inside was awake, so we got held up for a bit."

"Oh, oh, oh." Li Xun smiled triumphantly. "Then it still counts as our win! We finally beat you!"

"Yes, congratulations." Qiao Huan patted him on the shoulder.

Watching the scene, Hu Bin felt a little moved too.

If everyone could be like this and stop scheming against one another, how nice that would be.

The patter of rain grew denser.

The downpour was only just beginning to show its might.

"Come help!"

A loud shout shattered the group's brief moment of harmony.

Everyone immediately went on alert and looked toward the voice.

Zhao Jun, the person in charge, was leaning against a huge, pitch-black streetlight pole beside him, using every ounce of strength he had.

And the streetlight was falling toward the entire tent area!

The twelve of them hurried over.

Zhao Jun was already on the verge of exhaustion. Looking at the reinforcements before him, he grimaced and said:

"You... no, get someone who can actually help!"