Xiao Qingshan had always believed that his silly daughter had been fooled by someone.
How much capability could a college student possibly have? Could he really develop an antivirus software that far surpassed those of established industry players?
If that were true, then how would those industry bigwigs feel about themselves?
And if it really were true, wouldn’t that make this person a genius among geniuses?
Surely the country would have noticed him and started cultivating him by now. But as far as he knew, there was no one by the name of Qin Lang in the nation’s talent development programs at all!
In other words… this Qin Lang was most likely a fraud!
But Qin Lang alone couldn’t possibly have fooled Xiao Ruolin. He was probably just a front man pushed forward by some behind-the-scenes organization!
There had to be a massive scam syndicate backing him!
This was exactly why Xiao Qingshan wanted to buy into Xiao Ruolin’s company—because only by doing so could he truly get to the bottom of what Qin Lang was really after.
“I brought the antivirus software package with me, of course!” Xiao Ruolin said. “But I can’t show it to you just yet!”
“Why not?”
“This is my company’s highest-level trade secret!”
“You—” Xiao Qingshan was so furious he started looking for his slippers again.
Xiao Ruolin’s mother quickly came over. “Linlin, go to your room first. You barely get to come home—get some good rest while you can!”
Xiao Ruolin stuck her tongue out at Xiao Qingshan and scurried back to her room.
Outside, Xiao Mu looked at her husband with some exasperation. “Qingshan, our daughter barely ever comes home. This is our chance to mend things with her, so why do you insist on butting heads with her? Normally, you’re the one who cares about her the most, always asking around for news about her…”
Xiao Qingshan grew agitated. “Why are you being so loud? If that brat finds out, she’ll be strutting around like a peacock! Besides, what do you know?”
He took a deep breath and continued in a somber tone. “Our daughter has had it smooth her whole life—whether in school or at work, she’s never run into any real difficulties…”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Of course not! Because if she’s never faced hardship, then the day she gets deceived or pushed into a corner, she won’t be able to handle it!” Xiao Qingshan said gravely. “I want her to know that no matter how successful she is out there, I won’t give her my approval! I need to be the alarm bell that keeps her grounded!”
“But this time, I’m really worried. If that kid named Qin Lang really is a con artist… and we’re talking about fraud involving hundreds of millions—that would be a devastating blow for Linlin! So right now, I have to become her business partner. That way, even if she ends up in a dire situation, I can stand by her side!”
Xiao Mu sighed helplessly. “Then why make things so difficult? Why not just be straightforward with her?”
“Straightforward? Are you kidding me? I’m Xiao Qingshan! How am I supposed to say that? Don’t I have any pride? Besides, that stubborn girl Linlin has always butted heads with me. If I show any weakness, then what kind of authority will I have left as her father?”
Xiao Mu said with a hint of reproach, “I think Linlin’s personality is exactly like yours—once she’s set on something, even ten oxen couldn’t drag her back!”
Xiao Qingshan frowned. “No, I need to look into this. I have a feeling there’s someone else behind Qin Lang. A college student couldn’t just suddenly come up with an antivirus program that outperforms the competition—that just doesn’t add up. Our silly daughter didn’t think of that, so as her father, I have to help her investigate!”
…
Back in her room, Xiao Ruolin sat in her chair and let out a sigh.
Actually, before coming home, she had already reached out to some of her close girlfriends in the capital.
Borrowing three to five million wasn’t an issue, but the moment they heard she needed fifty million, they all froze.
Where were they supposed to get that kind of money?
As for the people who could actually lend her fifty million—she didn’t want to deal with them.
So she had no choice but to come home.
“Ugh, judging by how my old man is acting right now, getting him to hand over the money willingly is practically impossible. He wants thirty percent of my company for just a hundred million—what a joke! Once I get this antivirus software out there, I’m confident I can capture half the entire cybersecurity market!”
“And when that happens, my company will be worth over a hundred billion. Then I’ll finally be able to take full control of my own destiny—no more listening to my family tell me to marry someone I don’t like!”
Xiao Ruolin pulled out her USB drive, which contained Qin Yunxuan’s Yundun antivirus software.
This was her trump card for achieving self-worth and freedom.
“That stubborn old man—he doesn’t know a thing and still goes on about me being scammed!” Xiao Ruolin grumbled. “He has no idea what it really means to win first place in a national cybersecurity competition!”
“Forget it, I’ll just get some sleep first. If all else fails, I’ll secretly borrow some money from Mom. If I can’t get a hundred million, at least fifty million should be doable, right? And if that doesn’t work, I’ll go to my uncle. There’s no way I’m letting a little thing like this stop me!”
…
“Breaking news: A worm virus has recently appeared on the internet, capable of launching large-scale attacks on personal computer systems. We urge netizens not to click on suspicious links to avoid infection. In the five hours since the worm was first detected, millions of computers have already been infected…”
On CCTV’s news broadcast, the anchor urgently inserted a special bulletin, and the content was nothing short of alarming.
“A worm virus? What does that have to do with me? I’m a gold member of Master Rui Antivirus!”
“What kind of worm virus is this, getting an emergency slot on CCTV? It sounds pretty scary!”
“Our cybersecurity systems are more advanced than ever—there’s no need to be afraid of any virus!”
“I’ve got Master Rui, Big Number Security Guard, and Little Penguin Security Guard on my computer—a triple-layer fortress! There’s no way any virus is getting through!”
…
Regarding this emergency news broadcast from CCTV, some netizens found it frightening, while others couldn’t have cared less.
After all, it had been nearly twenty years since the last major nationwide panic—the infamous Panda Burning Incense virus.
Over those two decades, cybersecurity had made tremendous strides, and no virus had managed to trigger widespread panic ever again.
But this worm virus, named Pestilence, was quietly and relentlessly infiltrating personal computers across the web.
“Shocking! A rising young star in the entertainment industry did THIS with their agent!”
“Video leaked! A popular young actress secretly filmed in an eye-popping, shocking scandal!”
“Backstage changing room footage—uncut version, to be deleted in 30 seconds!”
“Exclusive club hacked—complete private contact list of the nation’s wealthiest women exposed!”
…
Countless eye-catching headlines flooded the internet, and countless curious netizens clicked on them.
“Damn, what’s going on? Why isn’t my computer responding?”
“All my precious collections are gone—I don’t want to live anymore!”
“All my work files are gone, and my computer is frozen and won’t even boot up! I have to submit them the day after tomorrow, I—”
While Xiao Ruolin slept soundly, the online world was being torn apart in a storm of chaos.
