Chapter 206: Repeating the Same Mistake
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Second brother, what are you doing here?"
Qiao Jing didn't say anything and just handed the box to Qiao Yue, motioning for her to open it.
Qiao Yue opened the box and saw a gear-shaped necklace inside.
"Weren't the fireworks just now a gift?"
"Because you've improved so much, I'm giving you two gifts." Qiao Jing's face was still cold, as if he wasn't the person who smiled during the fireworks just now.
"Thank you." Qiao Yue took the necklace out of the box.
The necklace felt a little heavier than it looked. She studied the pendant and it looked like there was a little catch on it. When she pressed the catch, a small and delicate dagger popped out.
"Why did second brother give me a covert weapon?" Qiao Yue had seen many weapons, but such an exquisite one was rare.
She fiddled with the necklace and looked at Qiao Jing with a half-smile.
"Don't put yourself in danger anymore." Qiao Jing looked into her eyes and for some reason, images of her being drugged by Bo Ning appeared in her mind.
The two of them were very close, their breaths intertwined. Qiao Yue suddenly blushed.
"Good night, second brother."
Qiao Yue pushed Qiao Jing out the door and leaned against the closed door, her heart pounding.
She hadn't completely passed out that night. She still remembered some things. She remembered being in Qiao Jing's arms, and the two of them seemed to have kissed.
At the thought of this, her face turned even redder.
Qiao Jing didn't really think that his "younger brother" had the hots for him, right?
Qiao Yue got a little annoyed as she thought about the incident. Bo Ning's trap was so unsophisticated, yet she was too careless and fell into it.
She should have been more vigilant.
During her time at the Qiao residence, she had relaxed a lot, probably because she was with family. She was not as vigilant as before. She must be more careful in future.
Qiao Jing did not get angry after being pushed out the door. Instead, he stood outside Qiao Yue's room and burst out laughing.
Qiao Ren was at the top of the stairs. He looked at his son's face and let out an almost inaudible sigh.
It really looked like it, but too bad...
Qiao Jing was about to leave when he saw his father standing at the top of the stairs, looking at him with an unprecedented gaze.
"Dad." Qiao Jing nodded at Qiao Ren. "Qiao Yue did well in his exams this time. I was here to give him a gift."
Qiao Ren nodded. "It's only right. He's your brother, so you should give him a present. You arranged the fireworks tonight, right?"
Qiao Jing frowned. He had not told anyone about it and had arranged everything himself. "How did Dad know?"
Qiao Ren replied, "I was just guessing. Go to bed. Don't let me hold you back."
With that, Qiao Ren left, leaving Qiao Jing there, feeling somewhat baffled.
His father had been acting strange lately. He stayed home all the time and never went out.
After the mid-term exams, the biggest event of the month was the school's anniversary.
This year was Harvey's 100th anniversary so the celebration was an important one. Every class had to put up a performance and operate a game booth at the funfair. Some of the more renowned schools in C-Country would also send students over to Harvey for a student exchange program.
After the mid-terms, the students could finally relax and start preparing for the school's anniversary celebration.
Except for Sun Bin, who was still studying the exam questions repeatedly, trying to see where he could improve.
Chang Yuan went for a meeting today and gave the class free time to discuss their program for the school's anniversary celebration. Sun Bin went to the grove behind the school to study on his own.
Just as he was engrossed in his revision, someone placed a hand on his shoulder from behind.
Sun Bin was so shocked that he almost threw out the thing he was holding.
"Sun Bin, you're studying hard here." Li Rong said with a smile.
Li Cheng quickly took out the milk tea he had just bought. "Come, brother, have some milk tea. You've been studying so hard, drink something nice."
Sun Bin accepted the milk tea suspiciously, not knowing what the two brothers were up to.
"We're here to help you."
Li Cheng cocked an eyebrow. "You didn't beat Qiao Yue this time. It'll be a little difficult for you to catch up at the end of the semester."
"Yeah, our form teacher last semester was Chang Yuan. His questions for the term-end exams were always very difficult, so you might not be able to do well."
"That's right brother, why don't you listen to us. We've just bought the latest cheating device from the dark web. It can definitely help you ace the exams."
Li Cheng and waved the device in front of Sun Bin. "Listen to us. You won't go wrong."
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Chapter 207: Bin Led Astray
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Cheng took out the camera pen and demonstrated it. As long as Sun Bin used the pen to write during the exam, the camera on the pen would record the question, and someone would tell him the answer through the mini earbuds.
"Work with us, we'll help you beat Qiao Yue. He's just faster with his revisions. We'll find someone to help you with the answers and you'll be able to answer all the questions." Li Rong said while patting Sun Bin's shoulder.
Sun Bin clenched his pen, feeling a little conflicted.
He was indeed not as good as Qiao Yue. In fact, he was not confident that he would do better than Qiao Yue in the next exam. But things would be different with this pen. If he agreed, someone would help him answer all the questions.
"Think about it. Think about how many people laughed at you that day at the archery competition."
Qiao Yue stole the limelight at the archery competition the other day. The onlookers all laughed at him for overestimating his own abilities.
Sun Bin clenched his fists as he thought about his parents' happy faces when they saw his improved grades. If he didn't do well this time and was forced to leave Harvey, his parents would be so sad.
Li Rong saw Sun Bin's hesitant expression and gave Li Cheng a look.
Li Cheng shoved the camera pen into Sun Bin's hand. "You can come to us after you've thought about it. We are ready to help you any time."
Li Rong and Li Cheng left with their arms around each other's shoulders.
Sun Bin stood in place holding the pen. His brows remained furrowed.
When they started, he was the one who said that they would compete fairly, but now he was the one who was going to break the rules.
In the classroom, Xu Hao and the art and literature committee member, Hong Ning, were busy organizing the class's program for Harvey's anniversary celebration.
Qiao Yu had also been called away by the student council to organize work for the school's anniversary celebration. Qiao Yue had some free time and was going to practice in the music room.
There would still be a final exam in music and this subject was still slightly more challenging for Qiao Yue. Although she was not completely tone deaf, she was not really interested in music.
When she arrived at the music room, she saw a group of people going in with recording equipment and heard a singing voice that made people speechless.
Qiao Yue listened carefully at the door. The voice sounded familiar. She walked in and saw Qiao Xin standing in the middle of the room, like she was practicing singing.
Qiao Xin was singing a song that was a recent hit. Although she was good at playing musical instruments, her singing voice was not up to standard.
Seeing Qiao Yue walk in, the few people who were close to Qiao Xin sized her up.
"What are you doing here? Qiao Xin is recording a song here today."
"Recording a song?" Qiao Yue didn't understand.
"Qiao Xin is going to sign with a talent agency soon. Don't you know?"
Qiao Yue was shocked and almost laughed out loud. They lived under the same roof but why didn't she hear about Qiao Xin's debut?
Moreover, with Qiao Xin's current singing ability, it would be difficult for her to make a debut, right?
Although Qiao Yue wasn't interested in celebrities, she could still tell who sang well and who didn't. With Qiao Xin's talent, she would probably have to rely on the autotune.
"You don't know? An international talent agency has had their eye on Qiao Xin."
"Yeah. Who knows? Maybe Qiao Xin would make her debut in D-Country!"
D-Country?
Qiao Yue frowned. Isn't this the country where Trand and Andy are from? She suddenly felt a sense of uneasiness.
There weren't many famous entertainment companies from D-Country, and the entertainment industry there wasn't as developed as K-Country's. Could there be other reasons for Qiao Xin to be involved with a talent agency from D-Country?
"Isn't the ambassador of D-Country visiting C-Country? Word has it that he wants to vigorously develop the entertainment industry. Who knows? Qiao Xin might be a first batch artiste."
Hearing Andy's name, the uneasiness in Qiao Yue's heart became more intense.
The entertainment industry was the best cover for any illegal business.
People like the sisters, Jin Lu and Jin Yan, entered the entertainment industry with dreams but suffered great losses in the end. For someone like Qiao Xin who wasn't that talented to join the industry, they must want something from her.
In fact, they might even want something from the Qiao family.
Qiao Yue looked at the letters on the crew's t-shirts. "AT Company". Aren't "A" and "T" the first letters of Andy and Trand's names?
Could this rumored international talent agency be related to Andy, as she suspected?
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Chapter 208: Hacked
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Just as Qiao Yue was thinking, Qiao Xin walked over.
"What are you doing here?" Qiao Xin's eyes were filled with disdain.
"I'm here to check if anyone's using the music room."
Qiao Xin rolled her eyes. "You're not thinking about recording a song and take part in this audition, are you?" Qiao Xin crossed her arms and looked at Qiao Yue with disdain. "You? Just forget it. You can neither sing nor dance, and you want to be a star?"
Qiao Yue was still trying to figure out AT Company and ignored Qiao Xin's ridicule.
"AT Company?" Qiao Yue said.
"Yes. It's an international talent agency that's supported by the government of D-Country. You didn't know, right?"
Supported by the government? Was it also Andy's proposal?
"You didn't know, right? My father helped me contact the ambassador, Andy, who came to C-Country, you know?" Qiao Xin continued proudly.
Qiao Yue's eyes darkened.
Andy and Trand were brothers. Qiao Xin hooked up with Trand before because Trand disguised himself as a rich man and Qiao Xin didn't know better. But Andy was different.
After he became a member of parliament, he put forward several proposals in D-Country that were beneficial to drug smuggling, which made his reputation questionable.
Qiao Xin's obvious connection to him must have cost Qiao Li and his wife a lot. Could Qiao Li and his wife be involved in Trand's business too?
Qiao Yue dared not think about it.
First, there was Qiao Yi, and now, Qiao Li. Although the Qiao family was a prominent one with upstanding businesses, the business that some descendants did behind the scenes might not be upstanding at all.
"Alright, if you don't want to leave, then stay here and watch me perform." Qiao Xin really thought that Qiao Yue would stay because she was curious about her audition. After saying this, she walked back to the microphone and started singing.
Her singing was indeed not very good. Qiao Yue covered her ears and left the music room.
Back in the classroom, Qiao Yue sent Xiao Jia a text message, asking her to check on AT Company.
After Xiao Jia replied, she reported a few other things.
During this period, the organization hadn't assigned them any missions, nor contacted them. Most of the people in the organization were doing their own things.
"Did Sister Lin go back too?"
"Yes."
Qiao Yue felt it strange that she had not attended Sister Lin's class for the past two days.
"The Godfather hasn't given us any tasks, and he is also controlling us less. I've recently hired more people."
Qiao Yue frowned. People hired by the organization usually had to go through layers of screening and eventually would need to be reported to the Godfather. But now Xiao Jia could hire people without the Godfather's consent? This didn't make sense.
"How are the preparations coming along for our end December mission?" Qiao Yue asked.
"We are basically ready. Should we run it by the Godfather?"
"No need."
Qiao Yue put aside her phone after the last reply.
She was confused. The Godfather's actions were increasing out of her league. First, he removed the people he had planted in her team. Now, he let the power in C-Country develop.
No matter how she thought about it, she felt uncomfortable.
It seemed that he was hands off the organization in C-Country, either to give up on them here, or to get them all.
Why did the Godfather do this?
Qiao Yue looked at the Godfather's contact information saved on her phone. She was one of the few people in C-Country who was allowed to contact the Godfather directly.
Two years, and that promise. All these tormented Qiao Yue.
Just as she was deep in thought, Xu Hao turned his head to face her.
"Qiao Yue, did you see the forum?"
Qiao Yue couldn't care about the school forum at this time. When she heard Xu Hao's words, she just nodded.
"I heard that the computer science faculty of St. Faustina's Institution next door was challenging us to a hacking competition. They hacked into our forum today and issued the challenge."
Qiao Yue snapped out of her daze when she heard "hacking competition".
One of the anniversary traditions at Harvey was competition with different institutions. This competition with the computer science faculty of St. Faustina's Institution was one such tradition.
"They issued such an arrogant challenge. They said that they'll take over our school's internet for a week. I wonder if anyone can beat them." Although Xu Hao was a computer science major, he wasn't interested in such a competition. He was happy being a spectator.
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Chapter 209: Code
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"A formal challenge?"
Interesting, there was a declaration of war between the two academies.
Qiao Yue accessed the school forum. The place where the school emblem was placed now had a logo with the words "Harvey Trash".
The posts on the homepage were all funny pictures and provocative texts.
Qiao Yue could tell right away that this was the lowest level of intrusion, where only uploaded content was corrupted.
When KA group first started, its shopping website had also been hacked like this. At that time, she had specially studied the countermeasure and even optimized the intruder's code and improved the firewall.
At that time, she had even posted her code on a hacker forum in D-Country. Later, a hacker competed with her on the same problem. The two of them continuously optimized the code and reconstructed the firewall. They competed like this tirelessly for two months before the other hacker gave up.
The next day, the other hacker sent a private message to Qiao Yue to admit defeat and expressed that he hoped to work with Qiao Yue in this area.
The other hacker was YQ.
Qiao Yue thought of sending the address of the school forum to YQ to have him solve the problem. But after more thought, she didn't think it was appropriate since this was a competition between the two institutions.
Nevertheless, she sent the address of the school forum to YQ with a message.
"Study the invading code and see if our previous remedy could be optimized. You don't need to solve it."
YQ replied "okay" very quickly after Qiao Yue sent the message.
Qiao Yue felt a little tired after all this and fell asleep on her desk.
She had been more tired lately, like when she had first arrived at Nanshan Village.
This was strange. She had not been worried about anything recently, so why was she so tired?
Sleepiness overcame her thoughts, and she was fast asleep on her desk.
After sleeping for about half an hour, someone shook her awake.
"Qiao Yue, Qiao Yue, wake up."
It was Xu Hao's voice. She looked at Xu Hao and looked up with sleepy eyes. "What's wrong?"
"It seems that the virus hasn't been solved yet. The student council has already mobilized all the top students in our department, but it seems that there is still no progress."
How could there be no progress?
Qiao Yue frowned. Wasn't this just a simple virus?
She rubbed her eyes to wake herself up and saw Chang Yuan standing near the podium.
Chang Yuan's expression was serious as he struck the blackboard several times.
"Everyone, attention please. Let's go to the computer lab now. It's time to test everyone. We haven't yet solved the difficult problem set by St. Faustina's Institution. We must come together now and solve it together."
As soon as he finished speaking, all the students got up and walked to the computer lab. Qiao Yue followed rubbing her eyes.
YQ had yet to reply to her. Was this code that difficult to crack that even YQ was stumped?
Qiao Yue walked into the computer lab and saw that the student council members were already there.
When Qiao Yu saw Qiao Yue, he greeted her with a nod. Qiao Yu's expression was unpleasant, probably because the problem still wasn't resolved.
Was it really that difficult?
Qiao Yue turned on a computer. The landing page of the forum was filled with all kinds of funny pictures and texts, which made her eyes hurt.
She keyed in two lines of code and went into the backend of the school forum. The invasion code was not that sophisticated but when assembled, there were traps everywhere.
What these students studied were conventional coding and computer programs. They knew nothing about this kind of unpredictable invasion code that behaved like a virus.
Just as Qiao Yue was about to crack the code, YQ sent a message.
"Boss, I've found a solution."
There was a video attached.
In the video, YQ cloned the school forum and found a solution on the cloned website.
"Was the code very difficult to solve?"
"It's not difficult to solve, but it requires a lot of computing power. So, even if some of them are solved, with Harvey Academy's server size, it will keep showing insufficient space."
Qiao Yue frowned.
They used a simple code to trick the opponent, and then defeat the opponent with computing power.
The move made by St. Faustina's Institution was malicious, unlike any move that a university student could come up with.
"Help me find out more about St. Faustina's Institution. Get me a copy of the information on the current faculty of the computer science department and their top students."
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Chapter 210: Fainting
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Qiao Yue's fingers danced on the keyboard while Xu Hao watched.
"Qiao Yue, this problem is so difficult that even Teacher Chang can't solve it. Are you sure you can do it?" Xu Hao asked curiously.
Qiao Yue shrugged. "No harm trying, right? Maybe Lady Luck is on my side?"
She did have an idea, but it was different from the solution that YQ came up with.
The invading code itself required substantial computing power. The people at St. Faustina's Institution probably used multiple computers to launch this attack.
With such computing power requirements, it should collapse as soon as it was invaded.
The best defense was not defense, but offense.
She modified the code that she and YQ had come up with and made it into a virus that looked easy to crack.
Very quickly, she found St. Faustina's Institution's school forum and injected the virus.
In less than five minutes, a senior in the computer lab suddenly exclaimed, "It seems that I have enough computing power now. It's so strange. The garbage program that I just wrote is actually running!"
The others also looked at their computers. The hurdles that they couldn't overcome no matter what they did just now were all removed.
The remedy code was running at full speed, replacing the things on the Harvey forum. The weird pictures and content were gone and the original content was restored.
Xu Hao was suddenly motivated by the students' hard work and enthusiasm in the computer lab. Although he was not interested in professional courses, the feeling of everyone working together was intoxicating!
After the invading code was successfully remedied, Xu Hao leaned back on his chair, heaved a sigh of relief, and turned to Qiao Yue.
The computer in front of Qiao Yue wasn't displaying the code page. Instead, it was showing a scene from Glory.
Qiao Yue was actually playing games when everyone was working hard to crack the code?
Xu Hao shook his head and said, "Brother, you really are using any time you have to play games, huh?"
Qiao Yue shrugged. "Don't worry. Isn't everything resolved now?"
The computer lab was filled with cheers. Everyone was happy to win this competition.
"I think we should take this opportunity to hack into their forum and teach them a lesson," Xu Hao said.
"Hmm, good idea." Qiao Yue's eyes didn't leave her game. She just nodded. "Maybe someone's already doing it."
Xu Hao was puzzled.
At this moment, the big screen at the front of the computer lab displayed the homepage of St. Faustina's Institution's school forum.
Xu Hao looked at it. At first glance, there was nothing wrong with it. However, upon closer inspection, he noticed that the date of the last post was half an hour ago. For the people of St. Faustina's Institution, such posting rate was highly abnormal.
"Our people moved so quickly?" Xu Hao suddenly had an idea. "Half an hour ago, we still haven't solved our own problems, right? No, half an hour ago, didn't you..." Xu Hao's eyes widened as he leaned over and asked softly, "Are you the one who solved this?"
Qiao Yue felt a little uncomfortable under Xu Hao's eager gaze. She put a finger to her lips and made a shushing gesture.
"My brother is so awesome! You've solved a problem that even they can't solve. I admire you so much!" Xu Hao put his arm around Qiao Yue's shoulder. "Brother, how about I follow you from now on?"
Qiao Yue felt awkward from his sudden touch and quickly pulled Xu Hao's arm away.
"Don't be so touchy-feely. It's strange between two grown men."
Xu Hao also felt awkward when his arm was suddenly pulled away.
Qiao Yue was different from his basketball buddies. His body seemed to be softer and even had a faint fragrance.
"Brother, you're wearing perfume?"
Qiao Yue rolled her eyes at him.
"Could it be your body fragrance?" Xu Hao continued to guess.
Qiao Yue was even more speechless now. She was even more determined in her mind to not let this person find out her true gender. A big mouth like Xu Hao would tell others everything.
Besides, it wasn't the time for her to reveal her gender and identity to the public yet.
"It's the scent of the laundry detergent that the servants use at home," Qiao Yue said.
Xu Hao nodded. "Your servants have good taste. It smells really good. Let me know the brand of this laundry detergent," Xu Hao said as he closed in to smell Qiao Yue again.
Qiao Yue's vision suddenly went black, and she slumped over uncontrollably on the table.
What was going on? Why did she suddenly become so weak?
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