Chapter 33

Driving school was peaceful, and Bian Xuedao, who was familiar with the process, found it easy. Li Yu was also very comfortable with it.

Bian Xuedao learned from past experiences where not giving gifts led to disadvantages, so he promptly gave the coach a good pack of cigarettes, asking him to take care of himself and Li Yu. Later, the coach found that both of them were experienced and didn't need much help, so he treated them very politely.

Half a month later, two female students were transferred to Bian Xuedao's group and started practicing with their progress. One of the women seemed familiar to Bian Xuedao, but he couldn't remember where he had seen her.

Li Yu, who was close to the coach, learned that these two women were originally under another coach. The young woman was very beautiful, and the previous coach, who had a thing for her, would stick to her closely when giving instructions, taking the opportunity to touch her. One of the women tolerated it, but the other slapped the coach.

After the woman who slapped the coach got off the car and made a phone call, the driving school manager called and scolded the coach severely, then transferred the two women to this coach, who was more interested in money than in women.

The group was already full, and everyone had to queue for everything. Initially, they were unwilling, but the two young women were very attractive, and one of them clearly had a strong personality and a background, so no one complained.

One day, while one of the women was practicing, Li Yu and Bian Xuedao were smoking nearby.

Li Yu pointed at the moving car and said, "This is the one who slapped the coach. I saw her name on the list with our coach. Her name is Liao Liao. What a name! I had to look it up in a dictionary to read it correctly. When young and beautiful women come to learn driving, either their real father or their godfather is rich. Anyway, one of them is rich."

"Your dad is rich too, why criticize others?" Bian Xuedao teased Li Yu.

"Damn! I'm a guy," Li Yu continued, "When Li Xun and I have a child, if it's a girl, we'll ask your wife to be her godmother, and if it's a boy, we'll ask you to be his godfather."

"Is there a difference?" Bian Xuedao asked.

"A girl with a godfather sounds uncomfortable. My daughter will only have a godmother, not a godfather," Li Yu said seriously.

"Get lost! Don't ask my wife, find a widow to be the godmother," Bian Xuedao said, and as he stretched his foot, Li Yu ran away.

Liao Liao got out of the car and saw Bian Xuedao and Li Yu squatting under a tree, talking.

Liao Liao recognized Bian Xuedao on her first day in this group. The boy who had knocked her down at the ice rink last year and almost hit her with a ball at the stadium this year, was now at the driving school. If she hadn't been transferred to this group by chance, and if Bian Xuedao and Li Yu hadn't looked at her so calmly, Liao Liao would have suspected that this boy was pursuing her, just like Zuo Heng.

The boy's eyes told Liao Liao that he didn't remember her.

Liao Liao didn't have the usual conflicting feelings of other girls—fearing others' pursuit but hating their indifference. She preferred being ignored, as it didn't interfere with her planned life. At this stage, Liao Liao neither rejected nor accepted men. If she found someone pleasant, she could be friends, but only as a friend. In her eyes, there were only female friends, no male friends. If they became friends, males were also treated as females. Flirtatious behavior or trying to turn friendship into love was out of the question!

In her first year of college, Liao Liao topped the department in both exams. Her goal was to maintain first place for four years and be a 24K gold scholar.

Liao Liao was a scholar, and Brother Wen was a hacker.

Bian Xuedao only recently learned that Brother Wen was a hacker.

Actually, Bian Xuedao was also a hacker, but he was a money-making type, while Brother Wen was an attack type.

Recently, the forum where Bian Xuedao posted cheats was attacked, and he was very frustrated. Why would someone attack such a small forum?

Bian Xuedao struggled to deal with the attack but found himself outmatched, so he shut down the server. After discussing with Yu Jin and Li Yu, they concluded that it was likely a competitor in the Legend cheats market. Bian Xuedao thought it was very possible.

In their small team, Bian Xuedao was the technical core. If he couldn't handle it, no one else could. With no other choice, Bian Xuedao called Wang Wenkai from the university and explained the situation, asking if he could handle it or find a classmate familiar with hacker attacks.

After a while, instead of Wang Wenkai, Brother Wen called. He briefly understood the situation, asked where Bian Xuedao lived, and said he would take a taxi over and be there soon.

Li Yu and Yu Jin were already in the room. When they saw Bian Xuedao bring another person in, Professor Shen was a bit unhappy but didn't say anything. Bian Xuedao felt apologetic but couldn't afford to lose a day's income.

After turning on the server, Brother Wen examined the situation, took out a portable hard drive, and was about to connect it to the computer but stopped and turned to Bian Xuedao, "Is it okay?"

Bian Xuedao understood what Brother Wen meant but trusted him, so he nodded confidently.

Through counter-tracking, Brother Wen quickly found the source of the attack, identified weak passwords, and began his counter-attack.

Some parts Bian Xuedao understood, others he didn't, but he didn't care about understanding; he just wanted to take down the attacker.

Hackers have unique ways of communicating. After a while, Brother Wen looked up and said, "The other side has surrendered. Should we continue?"

Bian Xuedao shook his head, "That's enough."

Peace was the wisest choice.

The other side wasn't afraid of Bian Xuedao but of Brother Wen. Hackers often have peculiar personalities. If they got angry, they might harass Bian Xuedao every day, and he couldn't always rely on Brother Wen. That would be too much trouble!

Learning it himself? He had no time for that!

Bian Xuedao walked Brother Wen downstairs. Brother Wen said, "This is the second time I've come to your school. I didn't look around last time. Can you show me around?"

Bian Xuedao knew Brother Wen had something to say, so he replied, "Sure, I'll show you around."

After walking for a while, Brother Wen asked, "You make cheats?"

Bian Xuedao knew he couldn't hide it from Brother Wen if he saw the forum.

"Yes."

"How long have you been doing it?"

"Since the first time I bought a computer from Wen Kai and you, I started preparing. This year, it's on track."

Brother Wen didn't comment.

"Whose idea was it to make cheats? I mean, including the two in the room."

"Mine."

"Who's the tech expert?"

"Me!"

"Aren't you in International Trade?"

"I taught myself a few programming books."

"Wow!"

Bian Xuedao smiled but didn't say anything.

Leaning on the parallel bars, looking at the stadium, Brother Wen said, "I know many tech-savvy people. Some work for IT companies in Beijing, some show off their skills here and there, and some spend their days on forums pretending to be experts. Such a big market, and a student in International Trade discovers it and succeeds. Do economics students have a special talent for making money?"

Brother Wen laughed at his own words.

"I'll go now. I'll think about it and come back if I have any ideas. By the way, if those people cause trouble again, let me know." Brother Wen walked towards the school gate.

Bian Xuedao had 2000 yuan in his pocket, but as they walked, he decided not to offer it. If he did, Brother Wen might get angry and leave.

The forum was back up, and Yu Jin went to notify his sales team.

Seeing Li Yu focused on the forum, Bian Xuedao counted out 3000 yuan from the cabinet, added the 2000 in his pocket, and placed 5000 yuan next to Li Yu.

"What's this for?" Li Yu asked.

"Your hard work. If you keep this up, you'll need glasses soon. Buy some cod liver oil," Bian Xuedao said.

"Isn't cod liver oil expensive? No, you keep it."

"Take it. Buy some clothes for Li Xun," Bian Xuedao said.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Can't I refuse?"

"Can't refuse."

Li Yu counted the money, thought for a moment, and said, "Come with me."

Li Yu drove, and Bian Xuedao sat in the passenger seat. They drove through several alleys and entered a courtyard. An old woman with white hair was sitting on a stool, bending over to pick up soybeans from a basket. The courtyard was quiet, with only the sound of soybeans clinking together.

Li Yu counted out 1000 yuan and placed it in the old woman's hand, looked around, and neatly stacked a few bags of coal. Then he and Bian Xuedao left.

The second house...

The third house...

The fourth house...

The fifth house...

The fifth house was an old man who had lost his wife many years ago. He had two children, one who died of illness and the other in an accident.

The old man lived alone in a small, old apartment, surviving on a meager pension and by collecting and selling trash. He was in good spirits and clearly knew Li Yu, greeting him loudly as he entered.

Bian Xuedao noticed the old man's hearing wasn't good, and Li Yu spoke loudly to him.

At the first four houses, Li Yu left 1000 yuan each. Here, he left 1000 yuan and gave the old man 900. The old man held Li Yu's hand, tried to push the money back, and said loudly, "Thank you, child, thank you. Just coming to see me is enough. I have enough money. I can't take your money every time."

Li Yu eventually left the money with the old man.

As they left, the old man stood at the door, watching Li Yu and Bian Xuedao go down the stairs, waving at them. When Bian Xuedao looked back, he saw the old man's smile was particularly content and innocent.

Near the school, Li Yu stopped at a pharmacy and came out with a bag.

Getting back in the car, he threw the bag to Bian Xuedao, "So expensive, so expensive. A bottle of cod liver oil costs 24 yuan. 100 yuan only buys four bottles. How long will that last?"

Starting the car, he turned into the school's back parking lot and said to Bian Xuedao, "Boss Bian, when will the next salary be paid?"

Back at the Red Building, Bian Xuedao wrote code, and Li Yu maintained the forum. While eating a banana, Li Yu asked, "How should we handle the posts with inappropriate comments?"

Bian Xuedao asked Li Yu to read a segment, and after reading, he said, "Lock the post, deduct points, and warn."

"Understood, Boss Bian!" Li Yu said.

Li Yu read another segment, and Bian Xuedao said, "Delete and blacklist."

"Understood, Boss Bian!" Li Yu said.

Bian Xuedao said, "If you don't speak properly, I'll deduct your salary!"

"Understood, Boss Bian!" Li Yu said.

Bian Xuedao stopped talking.

Bian Xuedao built the forum to attract attention and promote his free scripts and cheats. He didn't want it to become a platform for inappropriate comments. Whether the posters were genuinely concerned or had ulterior motives, they would be blacklisted. If they registered maliciously, their IP would be blocked.

Li Yu was fascinated by the power to decide others' "fates," and Bian Xuedao said, "If you were an official, you'd be a cruel judge."

Li Yu argued, "I'm very kind-hearted!"

In the evening, Bian Xuedao sent a text to Dong Xue: "Where are you?"

Dong Xue replied: "In Hainan."

Bian Xuedao: "Be careful and get some rest."

Dong Xue: "Okay, you too. I miss you."