Back at the base, Luo Qianqian returned to her room, powered up her computer, only to discover that her computer had been hacked?
Following the traces left by the intruder, Luo Qianqian didn’t hesitate to track them down, but was intercepted by the other party who even sent a provocative barrage of messages: "Hahaha, you’ve got a long way to go."
Luo Qianqian typed through gritted teeth: "Who are you?"
This was a blow to her pride. How could she, after all her studies, be inferior to someone who, for some unknown reason, had hacked her computer?
On the screen, pansies blossomed one after another, and within their cores, text began to emerge: "How did the exam go?"
Luo Qianqian was somewhat surprised: "Not bad."
The pansies rearranged themselves: "How’s your health?"
Luo Qianqian frowned: "Almost recovered."
The pansies shuffled their order again: "Someone has discovered me; we’ll talk another day.
Then, Luo Qianqian’s computer flickered twice and returned to normal.
Frowning at her computer, Luo Qianqian was full of doubts. Her skills were not greenish when compared with her teacher’s, but was she really unable to even pinpoint a location?
Suddenly, the door to her room burst open, and Hei Yu stared gloomily at Luo Qianqian... and the computer in front of her. After a long moment, he turned to Luo Qianqian: "What happened just now?"
Luo Qianqian shook her head: "I just started it up," and pointed to the startup time popping up on the bottom right corner of her screen, wearing an innocent look.
Hei Yu nodded: "Have you eaten?"
Luo Qianqian shook her head: "Not hungry yet."
Seeing no abnormal expression on Luo Qianqian’s face, Hei Yu left.
Yet Luo Qianqian narrowed her eyes in thought. There weren’t many who could hack into her computer—Hei Yu was one of them, but he obviously had no knowledge of it. But weren’t the base’s IP addresses randomized? How could someone have locked onto hers? And hacked her?
And those few conversations were clearly from someone who knew her and cared about her. The person’s skills were miles ahead of hers.
Moreover, judging by Hei Yu’s reaction just now, the surveillance on her computer from Hei Yu’s end seemed to have been cut off, prompting his rushed visit. If that was the case, it might be difficult for the person to hack in again, and after this incident, who knows where her IP address would end up?
Pansies, was it a hint of some sort?
She knew about the Language of Flowers, could it be that? Luo Qianqian’s eyes brightened, but instead of using her computer to search, she calmly made a call to Hu Si, saying she wanted to take a nap.
Hu Si had just finished unpacking but rushed over immediately, watching Luo Qianqian sitting in her computer chair with an indifferent expression, yet extending her hand to him as soon as she saw him.
With a stunned expression, he placed his hand in Luo Qianqian’s, only to be smacked hard by her: "What are you thinking? Phone."
Hu Si took out his phone, and Luo Qianqian expertly operated it, tapping a few times before making an odd face. Moments later, she handed the phone back, her expression still indifferent, but her eyes clearly conveyed her happiness.
Because the language of flowers for pansies is: memory and waiting.
And the only people who knew that she knew a bit about the language of flowers were those who had first accompanied her to visit her father.
Among those people, the one who could link with this flower language, Luo Qianqian could think of only one person: Luo Shufan!
Luo Shufan? Could it be her brother? Altogether, that person said only four phrases:
Ha ha ha, you’re still a long way off.
How did the exams go?
Someone found me, let’s chat another day.
Thirty-one characters, six punctuation marks. Yet they were full of concern, making Luo Qianqian’s slightly hesitant heart firm up in the belief that this person was her brother, even though today was just a weekend.
Clutching this secret, Luo Qianqian obediently waited until Wednesday. As she watched time tick by, anxiety filled her gaze as she picked up the phone, though her face remained cool and indifferent.
Luo Qianqian felt her voice tremble slightly.
"Hmm?" A pleasant voice came through, and Luo Qianqian almost cried: it was her brother.
Seeing Hu Si who seemed not to care, playing on his computer, Luo Qianqian went straight into her room, only to be pulled out by Hu Si the next second, and then he left the room: "Brother, did you miss me?"
"Hmm." Luo Shufan’s voice came with a hint of a smile: "How’s your health?"
"Almost there," Luo Qianqian smiled, comforted by his words.
"Brother, I have college entrance exams this year."
"Hmm, I know, you’ve been working hard," came Luo Shufan’s voice through the receiver. However, Luo Qianqian could detect a slight perplexity.
Luo Qianqian chuckled: "So brother, you should come back earlier too, I want you to see the shining me."
Luo Shufan choked up, "Can we video call after your exams?"
"Really?" Luo Qianqian exclaimed in surprise. She had held little hope for Luo Shufan’s return. Her brother’s mysterious companion was unknown to him, and they still had no clue.
"Hmm, but you can’t do worse than me," Luo Shufan’s voice was a bit hoarse, and it sounded like he had been crying.
Luo Qianqian cracked a tearful smile: "Brother is just teasing me; I’m not as great as he is."
"Be good, come home," Luo Shufan said. Luo Qianqian then heard what seemed to be a struggle on the other end, and then the call was hung up.
Her brows furrowed immediately. Were the people grabbing her brother targeting her?
If not, why else would a simple plea from her brother result in the call being disconnected?
What on earth was going on?
Luo Qianqian became even more bewildered. What was really happening? There was strangeness at her end and at her brother’s, too. Targeting them as siblings? It didn’t make sense. The only people they had offended at work were the Xu family, Xu Xiaoxiao, yet neither the Xu family nor the Han family had the capability to hide a person so thoroughly that numerous searches would come up empty, especially with weekly contact.
Yet knowing that each was watching her, and whether they interacted with her, she became even more interested in studying, even if it was at the base without any first or second mock exams or teacher guidance.
She would still occasionally find two obscure problems to ask Luo Shufan about on Wednesdays. It was as though Luo Shufan could see her papers without any video. Even with complex figures that Luo Qianqian herself almost found baffling, Luo Shufan could clearly hit the nail on the head over the phone.
Luo Qianqian pursed her lips, looking at the papers beside her. These were comprehensive math problems set by those at the base who had reviewed high school mathematics. Wasn’t everyone in Base A highly educated? Such complicated problems and diagrams—forget Luo Shufan, even Xu Tianyi might not be able to reconstruct the diagram based on her description. Besides, she deliberately blurred the details, hoping to get Luo Shufan to video call her. They seldom sent text messages, as those were traceable. Yet, Luo Shufan neither asked for pictures nor a video call, and her computer wasn’t hacked either.
Luo Qianqian narrowed her eyes. The base... what was the connection between the person behind Hei Yu and the one supporting Luo Shufan?