A Beauty's Invitation (5)

"Honestly, you're such an idiot." After waiting for a minute, Castle sighed. "Her nostrils have stopped twitching, the cellular activity around her tear glands has slowed, and her blood flow and hormone secretion are both dropping. She's already brought her emotions under control and is quickly returning to normal. You... missed your chance."

Castle was right. Lin Meijing, a strong businesswoman who had seen the world, regained control of her emotions in an instant and returned to normal. With a serious expression, she said, "I, Lin Meijing, have never admired anyone before, but you really are impossible to figure out! Your performance at the job fair was surprising enough, yet this time, you actually managed to scare Su Yating away too. I suddenly feel like I've found a real treasure." Resting her chin on one hand, Lin Meijing looked at Pei Shao with great interest. "Are you free tonight?"

"Yes! Wh... what for?" At Lin Meijing's final question, Pei Shao became so nervous that he nearly broke out in sweat, and even stammered as he answered. Being asked whether he was free that night by a girl—a gorgeous girl, no less—made all kinds of sweat-inducing images involuntarily spring into Pei Shao's mind.

"Hehe!" Clearly, this was exactly the reaction Lin Meijing had wanted. Pei Shao's innocent, flustered look amused her so much she nearly doubled over laughing.

"Boss!" Pei Shao called out to Lin Meijing, but his expression only became more awkward. He had even turned red!

Damn it. If I'd listened to Castle just now, she'd be the one blushing, not me. But now she's turned the tables on me in an instant... I'm still far too inexperienced!

"Since you're free tonight, I'll treat you to dinner as thanks!" Lin Meijing said with a grin, patting Pei Shao on the shoulder only after his face had nearly turned completely red.

"Ah... ah! So it's dinner!" Pei Shao felt a wave of disappointment, though he still put on an outward display of delight.

"Of course it's dinner. What did you think it was?" Lin Meijing raised her brows again, her beautiful smiling eyes fixed on Pei Shao.

Pei Shao nearly blushed again under Lin Meijing's gaze. The burning look in a gorgeous beauty's eyes was simply too devastating for him. "Ah! Um... where are we eating tonight?" He hurriedly turned away and asked loudly, pretending not to care. In truth, he was already bursting with joy inside. On his first day at work, his beautiful boss was treating him to dinner?! Pei Shao suddenly realized that bringing Castle with him today had been an incredibly wise decision.

"Hmm, you decide. As long as it isn't too upscale, I think I can still afford it!" Lin Meijing added, "How about this? You don't need to work this afternoon. I'm giving you the time off. Since all those documents have been taken care of, we can relax for a while! Wait for my call tonight, okay?"

"Okay! Then thank you, Sister Lin!" Pei Shao had never expected that Castle's help would bring him so many benefits.

"Mm, see you tonight!"

Pei Shao tidied up briefly, slipped Castle into his pocket, and walked out the door under Lin Meijing's strange gaze.

After returning home, Pei Shao felt comfortable from head to toe. But he did not forget to secretly switch the power back on before Castle noticed.

After saying a whole string of words of thanks, Pei Shao looked at Castle, who had sat back down in front of the computer and resumed working. Remembering something, he asked, "Mr. Castle, can I ask about that data? Did you use the hacking system to break into their database?"

"Without a doubt!" Castle replied without turning around, continuing to clatter away at the computer.

Damn! Castle really lives up to its name. I wonder if it's powerful enough to break into the Ministry of Defense's security system? After thinking for a while, Pei Shao's eyes shifted, and another idea came to him.

Using a mixture of coaxing, trickery, persuasion, and provocation, Pei Shao once again successfully baited Castle into agreeing to infiltrate a well-known domestic website with equally strong defenses and heavy traffic.

Watching Castle's busy figure, Pei Shao secretly smiled to himself, lay down on the bed, and gradually fell asleep.

Just as Pei Shao was daydreaming about his first intimate encounter with Lin Meijing, a piercing alarm suddenly sounded in the room. Pei Shao shot upright and saw Castle's electronic eyes flashing more frantically than ever. Its entire body swayed as though it could barely remain standing.

Pei Shao was greatly alarmed, because he could hear that the alarm was coming from Castle itself.

"What happened, Mr. Castle?" Pei Shao sat up abruptly, then rushed to Castle's side and asked.

Castle appeared to have no time to speak to him. The images streaming across its display grew faster and faster, while the indicator lights in its electronic eyes glowed so red they seemed ready to explode.

Just as Pei Shao stood there helplessly, thinking Castle was finished, the alarm finally stopped! Castle then collapsed limply onto the computer desk, and its electronic eyes returned to their normal glow.

"Mr. Castle, what exactly happened?" Pei Shao asked anxiously. "If you've run into any difficulties, I hope I can help, even if it's only a little..."

Castle turned around and stared at Pei Shao. Surprisingly, it said in an unusually solemn tone, "I detected another silicon-based life-form like myself on the other end of the network!"

"What?" Pei Shao blurted out.

"The other party is highly aggressive, and we had a brief clash!"

"Then what was the outcome? Who won?" Pei Shao asked nervously.

"According to my analysis, the other party's attack methods were highly sophisticated. It combined hijacking attacks, virus attacks, unauthorized services, and denial-of-service attacks in a rational and effective manner. Within one minute, it breached the attacked target's router, database, and FTP server..." Even at a time like this, Castle remained frighteningly calm. Pei Shao, on the other hand, was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

If someone with even a little knowledge of hacking had been present, they would have known just how terrifying Castle's words were. Even if all the world's top genius hackers were gathered together, they probably could not have infiltrated an opponent's defense system in one minute using so many methods.

Ignorance was bliss for Pei Shao, who only cared about the result. So he asked, "What happened in the end? Who won?"

Castle replied blandly, "Without a doubt, he gained nothing from me!"

Damn it! Are you trying to worry me to death? Pei Shao grumbled inwardly. Although Castle did not entirely belong to him yet, Pei Shao naturally still hoped it could become as formidable as possible.