Phi-Fic Chapter 14 Campus Unrequited Love (13)
Chapter 14 Campus Unrequited Love (13)
This internet cafe is located not far from the campus, but it has been operating for many years and its equipment is relatively old, so the price is relatively cheap, making it the first choice for many people to pass the time.
This place gives off a mixed and chaotic vibe, and many students keep their distance, avoiding it when they need to use the internet. Therefore, students from this school rarely come here.
However, Xia Mingwei brought Qiao Jing here, which puzzled Qiao Jing a bit.
"You said you wanted to investigate the haters, are you going to go online?" Qiao Jing tugged at Xia Mingwei's sleeve, puzzled. "If you want to go online, I know a better place, how about I take you there!" Seeing that Xia Mingwei insisted on going in, Qiao Jing continued to offer her suggestion.
“You don’t understand. Come with me and you’ll know why we have to come here!” Xia Mingwei patted Qiao Jing’s shoulder, gesturing for her to follow her inside.
Seeing that she was determined to do so, Qiao Jing could no longer stop her and reluctantly followed her.
As soon as they entered, the two girls, who seemed out of place in their surroundings, attracted everyone's attention. Qiao Jing, perhaps still haunted by the days when she was constantly being stared at, strongly resisted such gazes. She clung tightly to Xia Mingwei, following her closely at all times, afraid that if she wasn't careful, she would be the only one left in the place.
Actually, this was Xia Mingwei's first time here, but in order not to put more psychological pressure on Qiao Jing, she could only put on a brave face, pretend to be calm and act as if she was very familiar with the place.
Soon, guided by the original owner's memories, Xia Mingwei found the person effortlessly in a secluded corner.
This man, named Zhou Jin, appears to be a gangster boss who fights every day and is good for nothing, but in reality, only a very few people know that he possesses superb hacking skills.
In his past life, the original owner, desperate and with nowhere else to turn, overheard a conversation between him and others, only then learning that he possessed this skill. At the original owner's pleas and with monetary bribery, he agreed to help. It was thanks to his assistance that the original owner was able to investigate and identify the most vocal trolls online.
Upon seeing Zhou Jin, Xia Mingwei was overjoyed. Sure enough, her memory was correct; she had found him here.
She pulled Qiao Jing aside, pushed aside the obstacles in front of them, and walked through the crowd to stand in front of Zhou Jin.
One of Zhou Jin's long-time henchmen spoke up: "What? Is there something you need?"
Xia Mingwei nodded emphatically, "Yes, I need to discuss something with your boss!"
Hearing this, Zhou Jin was somewhat surprised, after all, he had no idea when he had become entangled with a girl. Zhou Jin raised an eyebrow nonchalantly, "Speak! What do you want from me?"
It was indeed inconvenient to bring up such a thing in public, so Xia Mingwei replied meaningfully, "It's a bit inconvenient here, could we talk about it outside?"
Zhou Jin looked at him with a mocking expression. "Just say what you want to say! Let me hear what kind of problem you have."
Xia Mingwei really didn't want to blurt out her affair with Qiao Jing, so she had to think of another way. At that moment, she remembered one of Zhou Jin's life principles—that one should respond to gentleness, not force. A brilliant idea flashed into her mind. So, Xia Mingwei immediately feigned shyness and said to him in a coquettish tone, "Brother Zhou, do you really want me to say it here? There are so many people here, I'm so embarrassed!"
Upon hearing this, the people around also perked up their ears, wanting to find out if there was any unknown gossip involved.
Seeing that Xia Mingwei did not want to reveal their purpose in this place, Zhou Jin had no choice but to give up!
"Then come with me!"
Seeing Zhou Jin about to leave with the two beauties, a group of onlookers protested, "Brother Zhou! Stop! Can't you say it here?"
"That's right, Brother Zhou, it's rare to see beautiful women here! And two stunning beauties at that, we can't afford to be negligent! Don't you guys agree, brothers!"
The surrounding murmurs of agreement grew louder and louder. Seeing this, Zhou Jin frowned, and the people around him deflated, no longer daring to make any more jokes.
Zhou Jin led the two women to a small room, sat them down, and calmly blew on the steam rising from their teacups. "You want to talk to me about something, and you insist on doing so alone? So, what do you want from me?"
At this moment, Xia Mingwei spoke up, "We'd like to ask Brother Zhou to help us investigate the trolls on the campus network!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Jin's slightly amused smile vanished. "How did you find out about this? Tell me the truth!"
Since she certainly couldn't say it was something that happened in the original owner's memories, Xia Mingwei could only answer, "I accidentally overheard your conversation with your friend before, but I didn't mean to! Now I have a friend here who has encountered some difficulties and needs the help of a highly skilled computer technician."
As she spoke, she pulled Qiao Jing out from behind her. "My friend got caught up in a campus dispute because of some things, and she's been getting a lot of flak online lately. So I'd like to ask you to help me find these trolls!"
Seeing Zhou Jin's silence, Xia Mingwei quickly added, "Don't worry, we won't let you work for nothing. We will give you appropriate compensation."
At this moment, Zhou Jin seemed to become interested, "How much will you pay me?"
"Twenty thousand, is that alright?" Xia Mingwei asked, shaking Qiao Jing's hand as she spoke.
At this moment, Qiao Jing finally understood Xia Mingwei's intention in bringing her here, and hurriedly nodded, "Sure, if you're still not satisfied, you can add more!"
In truth, 20,000 is no small sum for students. Seeing their earnestness and realizing they were indeed facing considerable trouble, Zhou Jin finally agreed.
Both sides tacitly avoided discussing how Zhou Jin, a gangster boss, possessed such exceptional hacking skills. After all, who doesn't have secrets these days? Xia Mingwei had hers, Qiao Jing had hers, and Zhou Jin had his too.
Zhou Jin worked on the computer for a while, and an hour later, she handed a long list to Xia Mingwei and Qiao Jing. "This is a list of representative individuals. Please keep it safe!"
After receiving the list, Xia Mingwei and Qiao Jing bowed deeply to Zhou Jin. Qiao Jing, in particular, was so moved she almost cried. She clutched the list tightly in her hands, repeatedly saying to Zhou Jin, "Brother Zhou, thank you! I don't know what I would have done without your help! Thank you so much!"