Once at the company, the two resumed their usual way of addressing each other. Xu Zifan didn't tease her intentionally, which finally helped Ji Yawen overcome her shyness. However, she was even more afraid to look Xu Zifan in the eye. She thought she would go home to calm down after get off work, but just before the end of the workday, Xu Zifan actually called her into his office and said, "Yawen, there are still some steps in the plan to acquire Luo's that are not detailed enough. We'll discuss them again after get off work."
This is important business and cannot be refused. Ji Yawen calmly replied, "Yes, Chairman."
Xu Zifan placed his hands on the table and looked at her earnestly. "Ya Wen, you've helped me so much these past few days. I thought we were comrades-in-arms and quite familiar with each other. Calling me Chairman all the time is too formal. If you don't like being called Boss, then call me by my name?"
Call him by his name? Zifan? No! Ji Yawen quickly smiled and said, "Boss, I was just afraid of offending you."
Xu Zifan smiled and said, "No, I think we're more than just boss and subordinate, we're also friends. I'd be happy if you called me by my name."
"Appropriate respect is still necessary." Ji Yawen hadn't called him by name in her mind, and it felt... a bit ambiguous. Why did the boss suddenly say that? Was it her imagination? Or had the boss finally discovered her true personality and started to enjoy teasing her?
Xu Zifan didn't press her, and casually said, "My chef said he needs to take a week off. I think you cook very well, so could you cook for me for the next few days? It'll be considered overtime, and you'll get a bonus at the end of the month."
Ji Yawen hesitated for a moment, but no one would turn down a bonus. "Okay, boss."
Xu Zifan smiled. He was right; his little assistant just wanted a raise. Good, he could afford it. The most important thing was to spend more time together privately; proximity certainly made a difference.
From that day on, Ji Yawen had two extra jobs: one was to go to Xu Zifan's house after get off work to discuss business with him; the other was to be responsible for his three meals a day. However, Ji Yawen resolutely refused to stay overnight at his house. She would work until 10 p.m. after dinner and then go home to make breakfast for Xu Zifan at the villa the next morning.
Xu Zifan had his driver pick her up and drop her off every day, but he didn't do anything else. Relationships need to be developed gradually and can't be rushed.
That noon, Xu Zifan received an invitation from the Luo family, inviting him to attend Luo Jian and Lin Siyan's engagement banquet. Lin Siyan had made great contributions to the Luo family, and Luo Jian had also fallen in love with her and said many good things about her. This time, she had finally achieved her goal and officially become the wife of Luo Jian, so of course she was eager to show her face to Xu Zifan.
Xu Zifan threw the invitation directly into the trash can, then sent some of the evidence of Lin Siyan's crimes to Young Master Luo. Young Master Luo was locked in a fierce battle with Luo Jian, and was currently trying to find incriminating evidence against them. Of course, the theft of trade secrets couldn't be exposed, but he could anonymously threaten Lin Siyan to work for him and ruin Luo Jian.
Young Master Luo arranged for his trusted aide to send the video of Lin Siyan entering Xu Zifan's office to her phone. Lin Siyan was shocked and angrily questioned the system: "[What's going on? Didn't you take a lot of points from me to help me block the surveillance? How was this recorded? Are you lying to me?!]"
[System: Host, I have indeed blocked the monitoring. Please wait a moment while I check.]
[Lin Siyan: Hurry, hurry, hurry!!]
She stared at the video on her phone, pacing anxiously around the room. The video showed her unfamiliar face after her transformation, but since this person had approached her and offered to cooperate, it meant they were very confident in her identity. But how could this be? She had done this secretly with the system, without even telling her husband, Luo Jian. How did someone else find out? And if it was recorded by the Xu Group's surveillance cameras, did anyone at Xu Group know? Could it be that someone who was working overtime at Xu Group that day discovered her and used the footage to blackmail her?
[System: Host, we've found out. There was a highly skilled hacker on duty that day, whose techniques surpass mine, which is why I didn't notice he restarted the monitoring.]
Lin Siyan suddenly stopped. "What do you mean? I was recorded from beginning to end? Can this be used to accuse me?"
Before the system could reply, Luo's confidant sent her another video—a video of her driving into the villa area. Lin Siyan's eyes widened, filled with anxiety and anger. [Even if I deny it to the death, I can't escape responsibility! What should I do? If I refuse to cooperate, and this gets out, even if the law doesn't convict me, no one will believe me, and Xu Zifan will hate me to death. If I stand against him, I can later betray the Luo family to salvage his goodwill, but if he finds out I stole it, he will absolutely not have any goodwill towards me. System, what should I do?]
[System: You can trace the sender through this video and delete their archive.]
[Lin Siyan: Is that okay? Then hurry up and do it!]
[System: Deleting someone else's confidential files requires 10,000 points.]
Lin Siyan was furious and gritted her teeth, saying, "Delete! Delete everything!"
Young Master Luo had no idea that Lin Siyan possessed hacking skills and was completely unprepared. The system located him through his confidant's communication records, deleted all of his and his confidant's files, and even discovered his identity.
Lin Siyan was furious when she learned that it was Young Master Luo who was threatening her. She immediately whispered in Luo Jian's ear, urging him to be even more aggressive in his actions against Young Master Luo. Xu Zifan discovered the system's activity online and knew Lin Siyan had definitely used her points. He immediately sent another set of evidence to Young Master Luo. This time, Young Master Luo directly uploaded the video of Lin Siyan sneaking into Xu Zifan's office and messing with the computer to the internet!
Because Lin Siyan was an unfamiliar face in the video, and it was impossible to see what she copied, no one connected her to the image. The only shock was that someone from such a large company as the Xu Group could be involved.
They could sneak in. But that's too dangerous. What if something happens to the Xu family?
Xu Zifan then launched a new product from the Xu family—a security and anti-theft system. He set up a "challenge," where anyone could attempt to bypass the system within three days, with a reward of ten million yuan for success. This high prize immediately attracted everyone's attention, and many locksmiths, thieves, and even fellow designers went to try, but all failed miserably, unable to even pass the first level, let alone the subsequent ones.
Lin Siyan was terrified after seeing the video online. She cursed the system fiercely, convinced it had cheated her out of points. The system, which had been frequently scolded for the past few months, was also dissatisfied with her and insisted it had done nothing wrong. It had told her from the beginning that its hacking skills were only rudimentary and wouldn't work against advanced hackers, and that because its skills weren't high enough, the points deducted weren't many. If it were truly invincible and became the king of the internet, it wouldn't just be a matter of deducting 10,000 points each time.
So Lin Siyan spent another 10,000 points to delete the video from Luo Dashao's possession. The lack of further developments reassured her, but seeing Xu Zifan using the video to promote a new product and successfully divert public attention from the Xu family's problems, she felt indignant. "It's just an anti-theft system, right? Surely this system can be cracked?" she thought. "She doesn't even need to show up personally; she can just disguise herself and let the system help her bypass it."
First, there'll be the video of the intrusion into Xu's company, then the scandal of their new product being sabotaged. She's sure to crush Xu's business. Lately, she's been reading a lot of romance novels, and realized she's been too gentle. Many of the conquest masters in those novels succeed by torturing their targets. If you can't torment them emotionally, torment them professionally. As long as you break their wings, forcing them to rely solely on you, how can you not win them over? Isn't that what Stockholm Syndrome is all about?
Now that she has the Luo family as her backer, as long as she helps Luo Jian inherit the Luo family business, then incites Luo Jian to be jealous and relentlessly attacks the Xu family, Xu Zifan's downfall won't be far off. After deciding on this strategy, Lin Siyan cautiously asked the system: "[Can you crack this anti-theft system this time? Don't tell me it's impossible after I've spent my points.]"
Xu Zifan had clashed with the system several times online and could recognize it. When designing the anti-theft system, he deliberately set a trap for it, making it think it could enter without hindrance. So the system confidently told Lin Siyan that there would be no problem, and Lin Siyan reluctantly spent 5 points to have the system help someone else pass the level. As a result, none of the five doors were opened. The system tried for a long time, and three different people tried to pass the level, but it still couldn't get in.
[System: Impossible, how could this be?]
Lin Siyan was truly enraged this time. [I also want to know why this happened. What exactly are you? Do you really want to help me? Are you trying to kill me in this world? What are you trying to achieve by binding me? Are you after my body and want to possess it? Are you trying to harm me?]
[System: Please calm down, host. I'm here to help you. I suspect someone is watching us. We keep falling into someone else's trap; otherwise, it shouldn't be like this. I was just fooled by a smokescreen. I suspect Xu Zifan has discovered us!]
[Lin Siyan: Ridiculous! He's just an ordinary person. How could he have found us? If he had, he would have sent me to the lab for biopsy by now. Why would he have waited until now?]
[System: If he discovers my presence, he will certainly not dare to act rashly.]
[Lin Siyan: Bah! What good are you? You think you're something to be afraid of? You've failed so many times, leaving me with only 300,000 points. Who's going to care about an idiot like you?!]
[System: Host harbors malicious intent towards the system. Electric shock warning issued! The system can do many things, but it acted according to your choices. Now, it can only be said that your choices were all wrong.]
Lin Siyan was suddenly electrocuted, her body convulsing as she collapsed to the ground. She was still at the challenge site, startling everyone around her. They quickly called an ambulance, and someone gave her first aid, which removed her mask and hat, revealing her face. Lin Siyan, who had been so famous yet so controversial, and now seemingly on a winning streak, was reportedly marrying into a wealthy family; everyone recognized her. The crowd gasped in astonishment, and many even took photos and videos, uploading them online.
Lin Siyan quickly recovered, scrambled to her feet, put on her hat, and hurried away with her head down. News of her alleged illness at the Xu's product testing site also spread rapidly. Netizens, who had initially thought the past was the past, began to question her: how much of an obsession did she have with Xu Zifan? Why would she, now Luo Jian's fiancée, go to someone else's new product testing site? Was she supporting Xu's new product or something? Every reason seemed rather dubious.