TNSFC – Chapter 47

By the time Que Yining rushed to the company, the culprit had already vanished.

Li Suyin was waiting at the office door, her expression grim.

Que Yining: “They didn’t catch anyone?”

Li Suyin nodded. “On my way here, I called security and told them to block the exits and not let anyone leave. But by the time I reached the office, the person was already gone. All the surveillance systems were hacked. We don’t know if they’ve escaped or are still in the building.”

This was definitely a meticulously planned, targeted criminal theft. Two incidents in such a short period made Que Yining extremely displeased.

Her expression turned cold. “Have you called the police?”

Li Suyin: “Yes, we have. The building is currently locked down, and we’re waiting for the police to arrive and conduct a search.”

Que Yining: “Did the person succeed?”

Li Suyin: “No, Xie Yanhuai is also on his way.”

Que Yining breathed a sigh of relief. As long as no confidential information was leaked, it was fine.

It seemed she shouldn’t have laughed at Xie Yanhuai for having many enemies. She had quite a few targeting her as well, and each attempt was more vicious than the last. Her company and studio had only been registered for a short time; how had they attracted such attention?

Gu Shanxue, who had been standing by and listening, roughly understood what had happened. She gently patted Que Yining’s back to comfort her and asked softly, “Is there anything I can help with?”

Que Yining shook her head and offered Gu Shanxue a smile. “No need, it’s not a very troublesome matter. I might have to hold another meeting later. Shanxue, why don’t you head home first? I had a wonderful time with you today, so I won’t take up any more of your time.”

Que Yining didn’t want Gu Shanxue to wait around idly with her. Her mind was currently consumed with finding that bastard and tearing them limb from limb. She didn’t want Gu Shanxue to see her extremely fierce side, lest her image in Gu Shanxue’s eyes change. Besides, this was her own company’s affair, and Que Yining was capable of handling it herself. She didn’t need to ask Gu Shanxue for help; that would make her look like a weakling.

Although Que Yining said it with a smile, Gu Shanxue pressed her lips together slightly, a hint of disappointment welling up in her heart.

They were supposed to be good friends, yet the other person wouldn’t even tell her when something happened.

Faced with such a clear dismissal, Gu Shanxue had no reason to stay any longer.

Just as she was about to turn and leave, Que Yining called out to her again.

Gu Shanxue turned her head, waiting for Que Yining to speak.

If Que Yining just asked for her help, she would, no matter what, even if it meant digging three feet underground, help Que Yining find that person.

Que Yining’s voice was clear. “About Ningning, it might have to be postponed for another two days. I originally planned to take Ningning over tomorrow, but with this incident, I’ll probably be very busy for the next couple of days. Can I come to your place in two days?”

Gu Shanxue’s eyes dimmed unconsciously as she politely declined Que Yining’s offer.

“There’s no need. I’ll just have my assistant take him tomorrow. You should focus on your own affairs and not be distracted by such trivial matters.”

Gu Shanxue walked to the elevator, pressed the button, and before stepping inside, she looked back at Que Yining and repeated what she had said earlier.

“If there’s any trouble, I can help.”

Que Yining nodded, watching the elevator doors close and the numbers above change one by one.

She was extremely annoyed. It was all the fault of that mastermind behind this, who not only ruined her date plans and prevented them from finishing their walk on that bridge, but now she didn’t even have a natural reason to go to Gu Shanxue’s house and deepen their connection.

Not long after Gu Shanxue left, the police and Xie Yanhuai arrived. Zhang Shiyu also came after receiving a call.

The police arrived first and entered the building to investigate.

Xie Yanhuai and Zhang Shiyu arrived later. They had run into the company and were still panting heavily when they got out of the elevator.

When they arrived at the company, Que Yining, just to be sure, asked Xie Yanhuai again, “Are you certain nothing was lost?”

Xie Yanhuai nodded. “Certain. This culprit was quite skilled, but still a notch below me. Boss, don’t worry, it’s under control.”

The process had been quite thrilling. After finishing this battle, Xie Yanhuai cursed that unknown son of a bitch a hundred times.

Although he used to enjoy poking around systems himself, he had never done anything as insidious as stealing someone else’s data and achievements. A person has to have some sense of morality! Those who commit such illegal and criminal acts will get what’s coming to them sooner or later!

Xie Yanhuai said, puzzled, “This second attempt was much more serious than the first, which seemed like child’s play. Who on earth has such a vendetta against us, to the point of wanting to destroy us? Even if they stole it, sold it, and used it, we have solid evidence and could totally sue them. What exactly is their motive? Could it be they anticipate we’re about to create a game that will sweep the market?”

Zhang Shiyu also couldn’t figure it out. “We’ve clearly been very low-key. In Lu Su City, we’re practically unnoticeable in a crowd, right? We haven’t even started internal testing, revisions, or public beta yet. How could someone be targeting us like this?”

Li Suyin, having been in the professional world for a long time, didn’t speculate wildly but brought up another matter.

“After the Geng Liyun incident last time, I checked the addresses of all company employees with the HR department. We confirmed none were fake. Boss, do you think that person will still come to work tomorrow?”

Zhang Shiyu was shocked. “No way! After doing something like this, they’d still dare to come? Besides, didn’t you say the exits were blocked immediately? Maybe the police will catch them soon?”

Que Yining narrowed her eyes. “It would be best if they were caught. However, Suyin has a point. The person didn’t succeed, so they might try again. No one knows who it is.”

The surveillance was hacked, and all the cameras in the office were destroyed. Now, they could only hope that other undamaged cameras captured an image of that person. If nothing was captured, it would be incredibly difficult to determine who the infiltrator in the company was.

About ten minutes later, a police officer came over to inform Que Yining of the search results.

“A window on the fourth floor was smashed by a heavy blow. There’s no one else in the building. We are currently checking the surrounding surveillance footage. Please try not to worry.”

This officer was the one in charge of Que Yining’s previous case. Geng Liyun was still detained at the station, and the mastermind behind the first incident hadn’t been identified yet. Now, a few days later, a second incident had occurred. He felt quite sympathetic towards Que Yining.

Que Yining wouldn’t vent her anger on the police. After the routine procedures were completed, she held a meeting with her two secretaries and Xie Yanhuai, the main person in charge of game development. At ten o’clock, she had Zhang Shiyu drive her home.

After returning home, Que Yining sat on the balcony, letting the cold wind blow on her.

She felt frustrated and wanted to smoke a cigarette, but then remembered that the original owner of her body didn’t smoke, so she resisted the urge and went to her room to wash up.

Before going to bed, Gu Shanxue sent her a “good night” message.

Those two simple words considerably lightened Que Yining’s mood.

She sent Gu Shanxue a cat sticker and also wished her good night.

Gu Shanxue didn’t send any more messages. Que Yining held her phone and looked at it for a while before putting it aside.

Fortunately, things didn’t go as Que Yining had feared; someone was absent from the company the next day.

This made the situation seem clearer than if the spy had still been working at the company. However, when Que Yining found out the details, she almost cursed out loud at the police station.

The employee who didn’t show up for work was one of the hired programmers. He was usually inconspicuous in the office, not very sociable, ordinary-looking, and had no distinguishing features. When they went to his home, it was already empty. Upon checking his records at the police station, they discovered he hadn’t even used his real ID to sign the employment contract.

The methods of the mastermind behind this were more sophisticated than Que Yining had imagined.

Unlike Geng Liyun, this person might have already fled the country last night, never to return.

The few core personnel who knew the inside story looked at each other in dismay, watching their boss whose face was like a gathering storm. No one dared to make a sound.

Que Yining closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her expression was calm.

“Go on, get back to work. Since someone doesn’t want me to reach a high position, I’ll just have to show them I can.”

Que Yining curved her lips, but her smile held no warmth.

Xie Yanhuai and the others acknowledged and left. When the door closed, Que Yining crumpled the paper on her desk.

She was certain that these two attempts were not orchestrated by the same person. The latter was clearly more devious and had planted this ‘mine’ from the very beginning.

So, among those who would have known about this early on, who would want to make trouble for her, or rather, for the original owner?

Que Yining inevitably suspected the Que family, recalling the ‘good big brother’ she had heard about from others.

She called Papa Que, and when he answered, she softened her voice, making it sweet.

After some initial pleasantries, Que Yining got straight to the point.

“Papa, did you tell anyone that I was starting a company?”

Que Hanyi chuckled and replied, “Not really. I just told your big brother, asking them to look out for you a bit. If there’s anything they can help with, they definitely should. What’s wrong? Did something happen to you?”

Que Yining: “You didn’t tell my Second Sister?”

Que Hanyi: “Why bring up your Second Sister all of a sudden? You’ve never liked talking to her, have you? Papa was afraid you’d get angry, so I didn’t mention it to her. Did she call you?”

Que Yining: “No, no, I was just asking casually. It’s nothing, Papa. Bye-bye.”

Que Hanyi: “Hanging up already, you little heartless one? You’ve been out for so long and haven’t come back to visit. It’s almost New Year. Don’t go running wild these next few days; stay home and spend some time with us. Your brothers and sisters will be back too. Don’t throw any tantrums then.”

Que Yining feigned displeasure with a light hmph. “Am I that unreasonable? If others don’t provoke me, I certainly won’t be the first to get angry.”

Que Yining chatted a few more sentences with Papa Que before hanging up, a thoughtful expression on her face.

From this, it was clear that Que Linyang knew she had started a company.

Also, the original owner and her Second Sister, whom she hadn’t met yet, didn’t get along. The animosity was likely quite severe and had lasted for a long time; otherwise, Papa Que wouldn’t have sounded so helpless.

Setting this Second Sister aside for now, Que Yining thought about her Big Brother.

It wasn’t that she wanted to speculate about people with malicious intent, but human hearts were inherently difficult to fathom, and not everyone was dutiful and kind.

Wealthy family assets, an adopted son, a biological daughter—the conflicts of interest involved were apparent even without Que Yining having to think too hard about them. It was just that Que Linyang had always put on the facade of a good older brother. Who knew what he was like behind the scenes?

Que Yining thought this, calmly reviewing documents in her office. She had overcome even greater difficulties in the past; what was there about this current situation that couldn’t be resolved?

Just when Que Yining thought the Geng Liyun matter would take more time, someone brought her good news.

---

If you’d like to read ahead and support me, you can request extra chapters or get the full novel as an EPUB.