Ex-wife becomes the world's number one hacker

Wednesday morning, on my way to the headquarters of the Eighth Division.

Tang Ning said to Jiang Yin in the passenger seat, "You listened to the recording last night, right? I felt something was off, but you just wouldn't believe me. Do you believe it now?"

"I was prejudiced and biased." Jiang Yin frowned slightly, her tone calm but tinged with self-reflection:

"I'm wondering, am I inherently an unobjective person?"

"No," Tang Ning reassured her decisively, "Putting Qin Heming aside, you've always been very rational. It's only when you're around him that you tend to go astray."

The street scene outside the car window rushed past.

"Emotions can easily cloud one's judgment," Tang Ning added.

During the conversation, the car drove into a hutong and stopped in front of a quiet courtyard house in the middle of the hustle and bustle—the headquarters of the Eighth Division.

Under an old locust tree in the courtyard, Xie Jinxing was giving instructions to several subordinates, his expression focused and restrained.

Upon seeing Jiang Yin and Tang Ning enter, he instinctively shrank back, then put on a smiling face and hurriedly came forward, causing his subordinates to look at each other in bewilderment.

In the conference room, Xie Jinxing served tea and water with great attentiveness.

Jiang Yin and Tang Ning remained expressionless, and no one responded.

Shortly after, Yu Haiquan pushed open the door and entered.

The meeting officially began.

The core participants consist of only four people, and the level of secrecy is very high.

Although Qin Heming was the actual mastermind behind the entire operation, he was not allowed to attend due to his status as an informant. Moreover, he was still in the hospital, so even if an exception were made, he couldn't come.

As for Wang Qian, as an "informant's informant," his level of secrecy was even lower, so he was naturally not qualified to participate.

Therefore, all the details are explained by Haiquan.

Yu Haiquan pulled over a whiteboard and began to explain and draw.

The carbon pen glided across the board, making a short, clear sound, unveiling the curtain on this decades-long espionage war.

"Yu Maolin, codename 'Old A'." He wrote his name on the whiteboard.

"Identity: Senior advisor of the CIS of Country A's intelligence agency, founder of the Dark Lab, and also the actual controller behind RUSEL Company, an overseas client of the Lin Group where Ding Meiyu works."

"For decades, they have been engaged in infiltration, sabotage, and intelligence gathering activities against our country."

He paused briefly, then continued:

"Twenty-six years ago, he successfully turned one of our key intelligence personnel against us. This traitor's betrayal led to the complete uprooting and loss of an entire high-level intelligence network that had been infiltrated within the government of Country A."

"The incident triggered a large-scale purge within the system."

The meeting room fell silent for a moment.

Jiang Yin recalled that Yu Haiquan had mentioned that the last purge was more than twenty years ago. Now it seemed that this was because of this incident.

Yu Haiquan then wrote on the right side of the whiteboard: Ding Meiyu, Lin Xiyue.

"Although we were unable to locate Yu Maolin immediately, the commotion was so great that he still fled in panic. At that time, Ding Meiyu had just become pregnant with Lin Xiyue."

Then, he wrote "Chen Mo" on the left:

"Chen Mo, a socialite and renowned doctor, is adept at social maneuvering. He appears glamorous on the surface, but in reality, he is the actual operator of Yu Maolin's reactionary network in China."

"After Yu Maolin fled, he cut off direct contact with Ding Meiyu, but instructed Chen Mo to take care of the mother and daughter."

Later, Ding Meiyu and Chen Mo developed a romantic relationship.

Yu Haiquan drew a line connecting "Chen Mo" and "Ding Meiyu".

Nine years ago, it was revealed that Lin Xiyue was not Lin Rongsen's biological daughter.

"Ding Meiyu is controlling Lin Rongsen and refusing to exchange children. On the other hand, she instructed Chen Mo to plan a car accident in an attempt to get rid of you." Yu Haiquan pointed at Jiang Yin.

Jiang Yin felt a sudden chill run down her spine—indeed, the car accident was not an accident.

Yu Haiquan turned around and continued:

"Afterwards, the channel company that Chen Mo used to purchase and transport equipment and special consumables for Dark Labs got into trouble and was shut down by our side."

"Yu Maolin then reconnected with Ding Meiyu, helped her return to the Lin family, and turned it into a cover base for the export of various contraband."

"In return, the Lin family received a large number of orders, one of which was the 'Xingxin' chip project."

Next, he circled the names of Ding Meiyu and Lin Xiyue:

"Ding Meiyu has poor foreign language skills, and she can't delegate this kind of shady business to others. Therefore—"

"All communication, customs declaration, and operations with the international side were actually handled by Lin Xiyue."

"She falsely declared contraband as legal goods, continuously supplying Yu Maolin with 'ammunition'."

"Although this mother and daughter are not officially employed by the enemy, they have been engaged in substantive espionage activities for a long time, which constitutes a serious infringement on national interests." Yu Haiquan pointed heavily at the two names with the tip of his pen.

Jiang Yin subconsciously pursed her lips.

Yu Haiquan then changed the subject:

"Comrade Qin Heming locked onto this lead while investigating the supply chain of consumables for the Dark Lab."

"By digging both upstream and downstream, tracing back to the Lin family and Yu Maolin respectively, we were able to piece together the whole picture."

"In May of this year, we will launch 'Operation Entropy Silence' to destroy the Dark Lab in one fell swoop and begin the final roundup of the entire chain of crime." He drew a large circle on the whiteboard.

"Ding Meiyu was the key figure in this operation. Taking her down was like removing Lin Xiyue's 'brain' and could force Yu Maolin to act sooner."

Yu Haiquan tapped the whiteboard:

"Therefore, the first step in the operation was for Qin Heming to arrange for Lin Rongsen to report Ding Meiyu."

"At the same time, anticipating that Yu Maolin would use a 'feint attack' tactic, we made arrangements in advance—"

"Let Lin Xiyue 'accidentally' discover the entrance to the low-altitude OS system, and combine it with the 'password' previously used to confuse her, forcing Yu Maolin to use Lin Xiyue as his only option."

"Comrade Qin Heming forced Yu Maolin to appoint Lin Xiyue for three reasons." He wrote 1, 2, and 3 in the blank space.

"First, losing her mother's control leads to dementia. Without Ding Meiyu's restraint, Lin Xiyue becomes impulsive, reckless, and easily manipulated."

"Second, the informant channel. She trusted Wang Qian. Wang Qian didn't pass her the USB drive, but instead followed her all the way to the warehouse, providing our helicopter with the final coordinates."

"Third, the key to conviction."

Yu Haiquan's tone suddenly turned cold.

"All of Lin Xiyue's previous crimes can be attributed to her mother or others. The gray market was conducted under Ding Meiyu's name, the hired assault was carried out through Qin Wan'er, and the recent car accident can also be pinned on Ding Meiyu."

"As expected, Ding Meiyu took all the blame in an attempt to get leniency for her daughter."

"but--"

"Personally stealing state secrets is a serious crime that she cannot evade or deny."

"She violated both the State Secrets Law and the Counter-Espionage Law."

"This time, Lin Xiyue will not be able to escape punishment." A cold smile flashed across Yu Haiquan's face.

"Life imprisonment, or a suspended death sentence, she can only spend the rest of her life reflecting on her actions inside."

He paused, then tapped the pen heavily on the name "Ding Meiyu":

"As for her, the chain of evidence is complete. Once she's in court, facing multiple charges, the outcome will be a foregone conclusion: the death penalty."

There was silence in the conference room.

The handwriting remained silently on the whiteboard, like a series of wordless judgments.

While Yu Haiquan was drinking water, Tang Ning asked him a question that had always been of interest: "How did Lin Rongsen and Gu Tingfeng manage to change the firing pin?"

Yu Haiquan put down his water glass, wrote down the two names, and circled them.

"Lin Rongsen majored in mechanical engineering in university and has in-depth knowledge of firearms structure. For this reason, he was specially recruited into the military for two years during his university years."

"Yu Maolin's gang hid their firearms in a secret room on the third basement floor of the Lin's Building. Lin Rongsen had previously built a hidden workshop and a secret passage leading to the outside there, where he often studied firearms. Therefore, he was able to enter and exit the secret room silently."

"After figuring out the model of the enemy's firearms, he led Gu Tingfeng to replicate the entire set of ceramic firing pins."

"On August 16, after Lin Rongsen reported Ding Meiyu, he and Gu Tingfeng sneaked into the workshop. They waited until August 17 when the other party finished the last test of the gun. The two spent 24 hours replacing all the firing pins of the guns before the other party took the guns on the afternoon of August 18."

After listening, everyone stared at the whiteboard covered with names and lines, speechless for a moment. Behind those few words lay untold dangers and hardships.

Subsequently, the individuals reported in turn on the intelligence they had gathered and the methods they employed during the operation.

Jiang Yin explained how she tracked down Yu Maolin:

"I started by investigating Lu Xun and discovered that Yu Maolin was behind it all. After he disappeared, I traced back the email address he had used to contact me and found that he hadn't completely abandoned the email because he needed to handle his grandson's tuition and school affairs. Using this as a starting point, I finally uncovered the new network of shadow nodes he had built."

"Family ties and romantic love are often the most difficult weaknesses for intelligence workers to overcome," Yu Haiquan lamented.

The crowd nodded silently; such cases are common on the front lines of maintaining secrecy.

Shortly after, Yu Haiquan stood up and delivered his final concluding remarks:

"This 'Operation Yellow Bird' has achieved a decisive victory thanks to Comrade Qin Heming's early leadership and intelligence gathering, as well as the meticulous cooperation of the Eighth and Ninth Divisions."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across every face in the room with the intensity of iron:

"We not only captured 'Old A' Yu Maolin alive, but also eradicated his reactionary network, which he had painstakingly built up over decades and deeply rooted in the country. From today onwards, this malignant tumor that once endangered national security and harmed the lives of my comrades has been uprooted."

"This is not just a tactical cleanup." Yu Haiquan's voice suddenly rose, carrying a metallic tone.

"This is a stern warning to hostile foreign forces and the most solid defense of national interests and the safety of the people."

After he finished speaking, there was a very brief silence in the conference room.

Immediately, Tang Ning slammed his hand on the table, and then, as if ignited, the group erupted in enthusiastic applause that echoed for a long time among the ancient courtyard beams and pillars.

On everyone's face was a gleaming light that was a mixture of exhaustion, relief, and excitement.

After the meeting, Yu Haiquan left in a hurry, as there was still a lot of follow-up work to be done on "Project Yellow Bird".

Jiang Yin stood up, about to leave with Tang Ning.

"General Manager Jiang."

Xie Jinxing suddenly spoke, his tone serious: "Could you stay a moment? I have something I'd like to say to you privately."