Operation: Put That Scumbag in His Place!

Even Zheng Mother was getting emotionally invested in this drama. As a woman, she could understand making concessions for the sake of a child.

But that was no reason to throw away the rest of your life!

"Is there any way to make Bai Qiongyu come to her senses?" Zheng Mother patted Zheng Ye and asked quietly.

Zheng Ye shook his head.

Even an honest judge couldn't untangle family disputes. Bai Qiongyu already knew Han Jin had lied to her about his online gambling debts, yet she was still diving headfirst into the mess. Who could help her?

Zheng Mother looked Zheng Ye up and down, unable to hide her disdain, and muttered, "You can't even handle this? Some villain you are. You don't have a single dirty trick up your sleeve."

Zheng Ye: "..."

Seriously, apart from being a little quiet, what exactly made him seem like a villain?

Ning Shile, however, rubbed his chin and leaned over, telling Zheng Mother with a mysterious look, "I have an idea."

Zheng Mother immediately asked, "What is it?"

Ning Shile snickered and looked at Zheng Ye. "It's just... I'll need Brother Ye to put on a little act with me."

Feeling both their gazes on him, Zheng Ye nodded without refusing.

[Didn't Han Jin swear he wouldn't gamble anymore? Bai Qiongyu only forgave him because she believed him when he said he'd quit.]

Ning Shile tilted his head confidently.

[Then all we need to do is let Bai Qiongyu catch Han Jin gambling!]

[Han Jin hasn't kicked his gambling addiction. He's still been tricking Han's Parents into giving him money to gamble lately. I just need to bring it up a few times in front of him and dangle some bait. He'll bite in no time!]

Ning Shile remembered that the book had mentioned the address of Han Jin's gambling website, but he couldn't quite recall it now.

What was the address again?

Hmm...

Ning Shile patted his head, thinking hard. Then, as though something had come to him, he pulled out his phone and tried entering the address.

The page loaded, and as the progress bar reached the end, a garishly colorful banner quickly popped up.

Outrageous flashing text, pictures of beautiful women, and all kinds of suggestive adults-only animations filled every corner. One careless tap would send you to another page.

He scrolled down to find a line of large text at the very bottom.

Sexy dealers dealing live. Click to play.

[Found it!]

Zheng Mother sat up straight and sneaked a look at Ning Shile's phone screen.

[Who could handle this?]

[...Ugh, I really don't want to ask him.]

Ning Shile sighed.

[But when it comes to hacking a website in a few minutes, he's the only one who can do it.]

Hack a website in a few minutes? Who was this? He was that good?

Zheng Mother grew eager.

Then she watched Ning Shile frown as he searched through his contacts. Finally, as though he had made up his mind, he placed a call.

A few seconds later, the other person answered.

Ning Shile immediately put on a smile. "Long time no see, Cheng Yang!"

"How are you doing after that beating from your dad? Can you leave the hospital yet?"

Zheng Mother froze at his words and awkwardly averted her gaze.

Conversation was an art, but this kid clearly wasn't cut out for the arts.

Cheng Yang: "..."

The person on the other end was clearly unhappy to hear Ning Shile's voice. "Do you need something?"

"A little something." Ning Shile chuckled twice, then immediately raised his voice with exaggerated enthusiasm. "But for you, my brilliant and mighty Brother Yang, it definitely won't be anything major!"

Brother Yang? Cheng Yang raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise.

He'd tried every trick before, and Ning Shile had never been willing to call him his big brother. Why was he suddenly so eager today?

Cheng Yang's expression shifted slightly. He sat up straight and asked, "What happened to you?"

"Nothing, I'm fine. I'm just helping someone out." From Cheng Yang's tone, Ning Shile knew he was willing to help, so he got straight to the point. "Can you hack a website for me? The kind where you take control of it."

That wasn't difficult for Cheng Yang.

He turned on his computer. "Send me the address."

"Just a second." Ning Shile hurriedly copied the address and sent it to Cheng Yang.

Cheng Yang logged into WeChat, and Ning Shile's profile picture popped up.

He moved his mouse, clicked into the chat, and opened the link. As soon as the progress bar finished loading, huge swaths of flashing red and green text filled his vision. His eyebrow twitched. "You're gambling online?"

"No, no, no, no, no!" Ning Shile shook his head like a rattle drum. "It's not me. It's someone else! Can you hack this site for me?"

Only after confirming that Ning Shile wasn't involved in this stuff did Cheng Yang get to work.

These gambling websites operated across different regions, distributing pages like this all over the place. This link was merely one of many, a sublink of a sublink. Once they had raked in enough money, they switched to a new one. This particular link was essentially abandoned already, so Cheng Yang hacked it easily.

In the time it took to have a phone conversation, Cheng Yang had cracked the link and taken control of it.

"Done." Cheng Yang sent the hacked data to Ning Shile.

Ning Shile opened it and saw densely packed personal information, from basic details like names, genders, and addresses to blood types and workplaces, all listed in full.

"Holy crap! This many people?" Ning Shile's eyes widened.

Zheng Mother was curious too, so Ning Shile set his phone between them and switched to speakerphone. "I can see these people still have money in there. Now that you've hacked the site, what happens to their money?"

"Money?" Cheng Yang laughed at that. "All that's here is a string of code. The money was withdrawn and moved elsewhere ages ago."

"With gambling sites like this, once you deposit your money, don't expect to withdraw it," Cheng Yang explained. "As soon as you put money in, I withdraw it on my end. Understand?"

"Then what if I win?"

"If you win, I change the code," Cheng Yang said. "I can let you win. It doesn't matter how much you win, but there's no way you're withdrawing it."

"Unless I haven't milked you dry yet and want to bait you into coughing up more."

Ning Shile couldn't help clicking his tongue in amazement. "There's so much going on behind the scenes. They're all scammers!"

"Exactly. Value your life. Stay away from gambling," Cheng Yang concluded dryly before changing the subject. "What do you need this website for?"

"Oh, right, right!" Ning Shile came back to his senses. "See if there's someone named Han Jin in there."

Cheng Yang entered a string of code, then typed in Han Jin's name and hit Enter.

Soon, all sorts of information about Han Jin appeared before him.

His balance on the site was still 1.2 million, and his most recent session had been at eight that morning. In other words, he'd still been gambling online as recently as this morning!

[What a scumbag!]

[You even lied to Bai Qiongyu and said you'd quit gambling. Looks to me like you only meant you'd stopped for the moment!]

Ning Shile told Cheng Yang on the other end, "Sorry for the trouble, but I'll also need you to help me put on a little act later. I'll let you know when."

"I've been in the hospital this long, and you haven't even come to visit me." Cheng Yang sounded disgruntled at that. "And when you finally contact me, it's just to ask for a favor?"

Ning Shile paused, unsure how to explain. "I..."

"I can help, but you have to agree to one condition." Cheng Yang cut him off. His tone had changed too. He sounded stiff, but serious.

Ning Shile hurriedly played the eager lackey. "Name it, name it!"

"You... ahem." Cheng Yang seemed a little embarrassed.

He hemmed and hawed on the other end for so long that Ning Shile started getting nervous too. Then he finally said, "You have to make some time to come to the hospital and visit me!"

The moment he finished speaking, the two men beside Ning Shile sat bolt upright.

Zheng Ye went on alert: "?"

Chu Ran went on alert: "!"

Another one?

Was this guy after Ning Shile too?

Ning Shile, however, seemed completely oblivious and even sounded relieved. "That's all?"

"Yeah." As though afraid Ning Shile would refuse, Cheng Yang cautiously added, "Is that okay?"

"Of course!" Ning Shile had thought it would be something major. He smiled in relief. "Once this is over, I'll come see you!"

Satisfied, Cheng Yang said happily, "It's a promise!"

Ning Shile nodded and repeated, "It's a promise, it's a promise."