A First Taste of Hacking

A First Taste of Hacking

Handsome Senior Brother had barely arrived at work that day when he discovered that his computer screen had been changed. The first person he thought of was Wang Yue, who had recently become obsessed with learning hacking.

But Hao Mei looked all around and couldn't find Wang Yue, so he stormed into Xiao Nai's office and smacked the desk in front of him. "Xiao Nai, Wang Yue does nothing all day except run around causing trouble. Aren't you going to do something about him?"

"Go on, what happened?" Xiao Nai reluctantly saved his document, then looked up and gestured for Hao Mei to explain.

"When I got here first thing this morning, the beautiful woman on my computer screen had been replaced by a monastery!" The very thought made Hao Mei fume. "What does Wang Yue take me for? Sure, he hooked up with a girl from Third Sister-in-law's dorm, but I was the Provincial Top Scholar, for crying out loud. Back in the day, the cute girls who chased after me could've formed a line half a mile long!"

"Half a mile, sure. Not sure what unit you're using, though." Xiao Nai could hear the deep frustration in Hao Mei's voice. Maybe it was time to take some pressure off the guy. "Are you sure it was Wang Yue?"

"Who else could it be?" Hao Mei bristled at the question. He looked at Xiao Nai with his baby face full of wounded indignation, making Xiao Nai shudder. The company really had been short on women lately. Everyone was acting so strange.

"Wang Yue's been messing with people's computers lately, but usually he sticks to those three poor souls in his dorm." Xiao Nai was rather impressed with him. It had only been a few days, but he'd already gotten really good at hacking computers. His cleanup when he logged out was a little rough, but everyone had to start somewhere!

"You have a point. But if it wasn't him, who else could it be?" As Hao Mei muttered, he found himself looking at Xiao Nai.

Xiao Nai couldn't take it anymore. He shut his laptop and went over to Hao Mei's desk.

"It wasn't Wang Yue!" Xiao Nai hammered away at the keyboard, and in less than five minutes, he had his answer. After another dizzying flurry of keystrokes, he stood and told Hao Mei, "I've left something on your computer. If that person comes back, I'll know immediately."

As soon as Wang Yue and his dormmates arrived at the company, they heard about what had happened. Huang Tao and the other two didn't react much. They listened, then went back to work. After all, they were used to having their computers hacked. But the fact that someone else had been hacked today suddenly made them feel a lot better.

Wang Yue knew what was going on as soon as he heard the story. He went over to Hao Mei and teased him. "Brother Mei, what kind of heartless thing did you do? They've come right to your door to make sure you stay true to yourself!"

"Get lost. You're everywhere. Can't you see I'm annoyed?" Hao Mei was in no mood to play around, and impatiently waved Wang Yue away.

"Relax, Brother Mei, relax. Think about it: whoever did this must have some kind of tangled history with you. Try to remember—did you ever let someone down in high school?" Wang Yue wasn't speaking quietly, and when the others heard him, they came over to join in.

"Yeah, Brother Mei, tell us about your dating history!" one of the guys chimed in.

"Brother Mei! ..."

The room grew noisy, and Hao Mei had had enough. "Back then, I shut out everything beyond the window and devoted myself to studying the sages! Otherwise, how do you think I became Provincial Top Scholar?"

"Brother Mei, those are two different things. Maybe it's someone who loved you but couldn't have you?" Wang Yue wasn't about to let Hao Mei off that easily.

At his words, Hao Mei couldn't help thinking back over all his high school classmates, wondering which one it might be.

Just as Hao Mei was lost in beautiful fantasies, Xiao Nai suddenly came over with his laptop. His expression was grave as he said, "He's here! Wang Yue, want to give it a try?"

Hao Mei quickly moved aside. Wang Yue sat down in front of the computer and typed away. Suddenly, the screen went black. Wang Yue turned to Xiao Nai. "Senior Brother Xiao, I can't beat him!"

"I expected as much. I've already found him." Xiao Nai looked perfectly calm. Everyone hurried over to watch. They saw Xiao Nai press Enter, and the camera on the other end suddenly switched on.

The surroundings on the other end were rather noisy. A somewhat lean figure appeared in front of the camera, apparently surprised to have been found so quickly. But after a brief moment of thought, he calmly turned on the audio and said, "I mean no harm!"

"I know," Xiao Nai replied, as calm as ever, as though everything were under his control.

Wang Yue was a little miffed. He'd thought Xiao Nai was giving him a chance to practice, but it turned out he'd just been sent in as cannon fodder so Xiao Nai could show off!

That fox was so cunning!

"It's you? Why'd you change the picture on my computer?" When Hao Mei saw that it was the familiar guy who was such a good cook, half his anger instantly melted away.

"She doesn't deserve you." KO remained perfectly calm.

Xiao Nai looked at the man on the other end, then glanced at Hao Mei, and immediately understood. "Come work for us. It'll take some of the pressure off Hao Mei, too!"

"Okay!" KO replied without a moment's hesitation.

"Then it's settled. Hao Mei, you're in charge of him. Once he starts, he'll be working with you." Xiao Nai took the opportunity to assign him to Hao Mei.

"No problem!" Hao Mei's baby face split into a broad grin.

With Hao Mei handling things, KO was at the company with him the very next day. Wang Yue now had another teacher, and for a while he stopped pestering Xiao Nai so much. With some free time on his hands, Xiao Nai soon found himself thinking again about his little wife who had gone back to her parents' home.

Wei Wei was tutoring at home. Once she got paid, she quickly bought a phone so she could pester Xiao Nai. In return, she received a message from him: "Wei Wei, the flowers have bloomed along the road. You may return at your leisure."

As soon as Xiao Nai's message arrived, Wei Wei couldn't sit still. She hadn't managed to hold out even seven days. She hurriedly wrapped up her tutoring job, then bought a plane ticket straight back to the capital. This time, with the guys tipping her off, she went to Xiaoling's place ahead of time to settle in. The next day, she brought a lovingly prepared lunch straight to the company to check up on him.

When Wei Wei arrived, Xiao Nai had transformed into Teacher Xiao, guiding Wang Yue and KO through an offensive and defensive battle. The company employees who hadn't gone out for lunch were gathered around watching.

Yu Banshan was calling out, "I bet KO takes down Wang Yue in ten minutes!"

"I bet fifteen," Qiu Yonghou chimed in.

At the height of the excitement, no one noticed Wei Wei's arrival. Curious, she slowly made her way over to Xiao Nai. But as soon as she approached, Xiao Nai seemed to sense her and turned his head. Their gazes met and lingered, as if no one else existed. Then Xiao Nai took Wei Wei by the hand, and the two of them slipped away, leaving the crowd to carry on without them.

After Xiao Nai left, Wang Yue held out for just a few more minutes before calling out, "Brother Xiao! Brother Xiao, you can't just leave me to die!"

He shouted several times, but got no response. When he turned around, he discovered that Xiao Nai had slipped away without anyone noticing.

A few minutes later, the battle was over.

Wang Yue shook his head helplessly and stood up. He gestured to Huang Tao and the others, then called to Yu Banshan and the rest, "KO, Brother Mei, let's go eat."

Only then did Yu Banshan notice Xiao Nai was gone. He asked the people nearby, but no one knew. The group of grown men had been so focused that not one of them had noticed when Xiao Nai left.