CH 160 Most Difficult To Crack
TN: bonus chapter💕
Translated by The BL Muse (ko-fi)
Jiang Chen stopped, turned his head slightly, and looked up at Shi Fengyue.
This was not the first time their lips have touched, nor was it even the second time, but the previous times, it seemed like an accident or it did not seem to be a conscious action. Only this time, Shi Fengyue's fleeting kiss seemed to be telling him something clearly.
Shi Fengyue had broad shoulders and long legs, and his posture was straight when he walked. But maybe due to long-term lack of sleep, there was always a bit of coldness and tiredness on his countenance. Compared to Jiang Chen, he appeared more indifferent and aloof.
However, at this time, when he met Jiang Chen's eyes, his previous lazy indifference was swept away. A smile appeared in his eyes and subtly, he leaned forward slightly, closing their distance.
"It's been so long. Do you really not know, or are you just pretending to not know?"
Jiang Chen frowned, something flashing through his mind. Just as he was about to catch the thought, Shi Fengyue continued:
"Do you know?"
"I like you."
"I'm pursuing you romantically."
Every time he uttered a sentence, the distance became closer.
Jiang Chen's eyes flashed slightly, and he neither retreated nor avoided, raising his eyebrows as he looked at him.
"You're pursuing me romantically?"
Shi Fengyue stared into his eyes. His voice was husky due to staying up late, and it sounded a little deeper than usual. Just like his deep eyes, it was difficult to distinguish his emotions: "I've only grinded coffee for you, only woke you up from bed, only ate with you, only promised you to go back to the institute, only kissed you... and only wanted to sleep with you. If this isn't romantic than what is."
Hearing the three words that were deliberately lowered, Jiang Chen's eyebrows jumped and his back felt numb. He pursed his lips and looked calm, as if he had just realized: "So you had feelings for me so early on.”
Shi Fengyue took in all his reactions and straightened up slowly. He locked his eyes with his own deep ones and asked him in a low voice, seeming to be the image of a very polite gentleman: "Then are you willing to accept me?"
Jiang Chen lowered his eyes, seeming to be thinking about his words. After a few seconds, he raised his eyes and looked at him: "If I don't agree, will you withdraw from this project?"
Shi Fengyue's eyes darkened: "No."
Jiang Chen clicked his tongue, seeming hesitant. His eyes glanced at Shi Fengyue's slightly tense expression before he curved his eyes and smiled: "Then I am your boyfriend now."
Shi Fengyue raised his eyebrows and finally realized that he had deliberately delayed his response just to see his reaction. He raised his hand and rubbed Jiang Chen's head as punishment, but the corners of his mouth and voice revealed a smile: "Boyfriend."
Jiang Chen: "Are you calling me or yourself?"
Shi Fengyue's chuckle escaped from his throat. The hand on the back of Jiang Chen's head moved down, curled around his neck, and brought him closer. He pecked his eyes and when he closed his eyes subconsciously, he whispered something in his ear.
Jiang Chen opened his eyes suddenly, but before he could open his mouth to speak, he met Shi Fengyue's eyes that seemed to be smiling but not smiling, and his ears turned red first.
He slapped the hand on his head away, and for the first time, he couldn't help but utter a curse word.
Shi Fengyue grabbed his wrist, took a sip of coffee from his hand, and said with a double entendre: "Sweet."
……
When the two returned to the laboratory, they happened to see Yu Yi coming out. She saw them and said hello: "Your aunt is here. Do you want to see her?"
Jiang Chen paused. Since the incident with He Qianjian, he had gone back to the He's twice, but he never went to the old house. Because the old gentleman was in poor health and went to a nursing home. And add to the fact that the laboratory was busy, he also hadn’t seen He Yanya for two months.
After hesitating for a moment, he agreed.
Seeing that he agreed, Yu Yi seemed to be relieved, and there was a rare smile on her face, which had never been very fond of smiling.
"Have you had breakfast?"
"I had something to eat before sending the report." Jiang Chen just began to walk forward when he suddenly remembered that he also had a boyfriend and should report it. He turned to Shi Fengyue and said: "I'm going to see my aunt. You go world first, I’ll come find you later.”
The smile in Shi Fengyue's eyes did not disappear, and the curvature of the corners of his mouth deepened when he heard this: "I'll wait for you."
Jiang Chen paused. He didn't know why, but these words, which were obviously very ordinary, felt strange when they came out of Shi Fengyue's mouth.
Perhaps this was the difference between lovers and colleagues?
Jiang Chen nodded, turned to Yu Yi and said, "Let's go."
Yu Yi's eyes wandered between Shi Fengyue and Jiang Chen. When she heard Jiang Chen's voice, she looked away and followed his footsteps.
"Aunt, when did she come?"
"She just arrived not long ago." Yu Yi said: "Her project had come to an end, and she just has some free time, so she came here to take a look."
Jiang Chen hummed. Neither of them were talkative. After asking this question, they walked to the reception building in silence.
Because most of the research projects of the Military Research Institute involve state secrets, everyone who entered and exited must undergo strict inspections. If non-Military Research Institute researchers want to come in, they need to go through strict procedures, starting from the application form to the guarantee letter of the scientific researchers within the institute. Only after approval from the direct leader and background check was passed could an admission pass be issued.
However, this increased access permit only allowed guests to stay in the reception building, which was heavily guarded and far away from the experimental area. If the institute's researchers wanted to meet people, they had to walk through the garden that separated the laboratory and recreational areas, walk through the cafeteria, and then pass through a small garden.
Jiang Chen was tall and had long legs, but he walked at Yu Yi's pace. It had been nearly twenty minutes when he finally arrived at the reception building.
Pushing open the door of the reception room, he saw He Yanya who was typing something on her laptop. When she heard the noise, she looked up and saw Jiang Chen, a smile appearing on her face: "You're here too, Xiao Chen."
Jiang Chen nodded and greeted her. He avoided the laptop on the coffee table and sat down on the other side.
But Yu Yi turned the laptop directly in front of Jiang Chen and showed him: "This is some information I checked. I don't know if it will be useful to you or not."
Jiang Chen's eyes fell on the screen. When he saw the title of the document, he was stunned for a moment, "Is this...an ancient written language record?"
He Yanya nodded and dragged the laptop closer so that Jiang Chen could see it more clearly: "Those words are indeed not in any known writing system in our history, but when I looked up the information, I saw it on a website post.”
She clicked on the picture: "Some people have seen similar text appear on the screen after their computer was hacked. Most people thought it was a hacker's joke or that it was a system problem."
Jiang Chen leaned closer and discerned the content of the picture, frowning slightly. Was this something left behind when the System wiped out traces?
"Didn't anyone say why these words appeared and what they did before their computer had problems?"
"No." He Yanya said, "But these computers have one thing in common."
Jiang Chen raised his eyes.
"They were all connected to the monitoring system."
Jiang Chen instantly thought of the things that the System could do. It was not surprising when he thought about it, but... this discovery was of little use to the current deciphering.
He didn't think He Yanya didn't know this.
Sure enough, He Yanya opened a document next and said: "After I checked these, I dragged a friend to connect the IPs of these computers and found that most of these computers are in Yan City, and many of them are computers located in places that He Qianjian does not need to pass by in daily life.”
As He Yanya's friend, Yu Yi was the only person in the laboratory besides Shi Fengyue and C who knew more about the inside story. And as a scientific researcher, she had always been very interested by the system in He Qianjian's hands. She couldn't help but interject at this time: "In other words, he should have done something in these places, and the System helped him clean up any traces, so that this happened to those people's computers."
"Yes." Jiang Chen asked He Yanya, "Aunt, can you send me a copy of this document?"
He Qianjian would not do anything without benefit or meaning. The System was unwilling to expose itself, and it was even less likely to do something extraneous. This proved that He Qianjian and the System must have a motive. It may be the cost that He Qianjian must pay for binding to the System, but it was more likely to be related to the true purpose of the System.
Even if there was only a little clue, he couldn't let it go.
He Yanya: "Sure."
Jiang Chen watched as she finished sending and was about to ask her if she had anything else as well as updates on He Qianjian's current situation when he heard someone knocking on the door.
Yu Yi asked: "Who is it?"
"Shi Fengyue."
Jiang Chen was surprised and subconsciously looked at the door.
Yu Yi asked He Yanya with her eyes and after getting permission shs said, "Please come in."
Shi Fengyue pushed the door open, nodded slightly to Yu Yi, greeted He Yanya, and then said to Jiang Chen: "That file has been translated."
Jiang Chen stood up quickly: "So fast?"
"The deciphering software had been modified." Shi Fengyue said lightly.
Yu Yi was also very curious. Hearing this, she asked: "That file that was the most difficult to crack?"
"Yes." Jiang Chen wanted to go and take a look right away, but He Yanya was still here, so it wouldn't be appropriate for him to leave now.
He Yanya also wanted to know about the situation related to He Qianjian. She said: "I heard Yu Yi say, the intercepted documents Xiao Shi is responsible for are not included in the work content of the project?"
Jiang Chen nodded: "Yes."
"In that case, can I go and have a look?"
Hearing He Yanya's request, Jiang Chen was a little surprised, but he also felt it was expected. He Yanya usually rarely paid attention to things that were not related to her own experiments, but this time she helped him find so much information. It could be seen she was also very concerned about this matter.
The System investigation had indeed become independent from the Changjiang project and was not included in the confidentiality agreement. Moreover, He Yanya could be trusted, so there was nothing wrong with taking a look.
However, He Yanya was not from the Military Research Institute, so ahe could not enter the experimental area.
After Jiang Chen brought up the matter, He Yanya smiled and took a folder from the table and handed it to Jiang Chen: "This is not a problem."
Jiang Chen took it and opened it, and when he saw the contents inside, he was surprised for a moment: "I remember that the Military Research Institute does not have a plant research direction, so the equipment should not be suitable, right?"
Yu Yi explained: "There was actually one before, but no results were produced. Something happened to the head researcher's family, so he left the research institute. The rest of the team also dispersed, leaving a vacant laboratory. So it's actually convenient for Yan Ya to come here.”
Jiang Chen asked no more questions: "Then Aunt, let's go together."