Ex-wife becomes the world's number one hacker

Upon hearing this, Tang Ning prepared to get up and leave.

"Tang Ning, let's go together," Jiang Yin called out to him.

She knew that what Xie Jinxing was about to say was related to Qin Heming. Having Tang Ning present was to prevent herself from falling into the same extreme trap again.

Tang Ning understood what she meant, closed the door, and sat back down in her original seat.

Xie Jinxing sat across the conference table, looking at Jiang Yin with sincere eyes and a deep, solemn voice:

"In order to eliminate your security threat as soon as possible, Heming began an independent investigation after being dismissed, and cooperated with the Eighth and Ninth Divisions as an informant."

"The breakthrough in the investigation began when Heming traced the flow of a batch of illegal medical supplies to the Lin family's warehouse, and from there he uncovered Yu Maolin and also found out the blood relationship between Yu and Lin Xiyue."

"But the subsequent investigation quickly hit a bottleneck; Yu Maolin had hidden himself too well."

"At this moment, Lin Xiyue began to consciously approach Heming."

"After analysis, we determined that Yu Maolin wanted to use a 'honey trap' as a stepping stone to infiltrate the Qin family's core, steal intelligence, and plot for greater benefits; while Ding Meiyu and her daughter wanted to use this opportunity to climb the social ladder. Although their goals were slightly different, their directions were the same."

Jiang Yin listened quietly, her fingers unconsciously tracing the cold surface of the table.

"So, we decided to play along and, in order to achieve our goal as soon as possible, took a risk and launched the 'entrapment' plan."

"My task was to use rhetoric to guide this 'belief'—to make Lin Xiyue feel that her goal had been achieved, to make Ding Meiyu feel that her daughter had a bright future, and to make Yu Maolin feel that victory was assured."

"And Heming's mission is to use enough money and business opportunities as bait to lure them step by step into a dead end."

He paused, then looked at Jiang Yin:

"Heming did not cheat on his wife, nor did he allow anyone to touch him. He took his son to Country A, firstly to show Yu Maolin his 'sincerity,' and secondly to completely avoid being alone with Lin Xiyue."

"Actually, we were overthinking it. The person she really likes is Jian Tingyun. That's why we always arrange our meetings as a group gathering, and we always invite Tingyun along. He has a warm personality, which makes him more appealing to girls."

Upon hearing this, Tang Ning raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly.

"Lin Xiyue is very conflicted. She likes Tingyun, but Tingyun doesn't reciprocate her feelings. In addition, Yu Maolin and Ding Meiyu insist that she choose Heming. She's afraid of ending up with nothing, so she keeps being so indecisive. This actually makes our work easier."

"Moreover, she is afraid of Heming and never dares to make any rash moves."

Xie Jinxing changed the subject, his tone turning somber:

"After the 'Cruise Ship Operation' failed, in order to cover your escape from capture, Heming had to downplay your role as a 'bed climber.' He said, 'Only if my rejection of Yinyin is genuine will they believe she's truly insignificant. And that's why they subconsciously exclude her from their targets.'"

"Later, it was discovered that his home was full of informants, so he had no choice but to continue this strategy, including throughout the entire 'entrapment' operation."

"But all the words that belittled you came from my mouth. Heming never said a word; he couldn't bring himself to say them. If you want to hate someone, hate me."

Jiang Yin's breath hitched slightly, and she lowered her eyes.

"Operation 'Entrapment' led to a breakthrough in the investigation. His achievements that year surpassed the total of the previous three years. But we didn't expect Yu Maolin to be more cunning than we thought, and he refused to show himself for a long time. Especially after the dark laboratory was bombed, he simply 'vanished into thin air'."

"The reason I'm not telling you is because the core of the plan is 'truthfulness.' Any information you have will create flaws in your reaction. And the other side is an expert, with agents all around you. Moving you away or eliminating your informants will alert them and make them focus all their attention on you."

"But, it was our mistake to make you suffer for so long without your knowledge."

Xie Jinxing took a deep breath:

"There's another variable we didn't anticipate—Qin Wan'er."

"She's extremely malicious towards you, constantly sending you edited and post-processed photos and videos. She studied art and design; this is easy for her."

"Both Heming and I warned her, but she turned around and told Lin Xiyue. She's completely under Lin Xiyue's control. We could only cover it up by saying we were afraid Grandma Qin would be unhappy if she found out."

"This was due to our underestimation of the malice within kinship ties, and it was the only part of the entire plan that truly spiraled out of control, aside from the fact that it took longer than expected."

Tang Ning snorted coldly and shook her head.

"He Ming..." Xie Jinxing's voice was tinged with exhaustion.

"He's actually walking a tightrope every day. His biggest pressure doesn't come from his opponents, but from you. He has to use indifference to keep you away from danger, and at the same time, he has to bear all your misunderstandings and anger towards him."

"He... is in a lot of pain. And seeing you in pain only makes his pain worse."

A brief silence fell over the meeting room, broken only by the low hum of the air conditioner.

A moment later, Xie Jinxing got up, took out a thick stack of envelopes and two USB drives from the safe in the conference room, and pushed them in front of Jiang Yin.

"These are the wills Heming wrote while carrying out dangerous missions as an informant. There were 17 letters in 8 locations and 10 letters in 9 locations, for a total of 27 letters."

"These two USB drives contain recordings of my conversations with Director Yu, and the confidential parts have been altered. This may violate regulations, but the 'bird in the hole' and 'entrapment' are over, so it should be fine."

"We hope that what's in here... will help you understand him better."

Jiang Yin's gaze fell on the heavy stack of envelopes, her fingers curling slightly, but she remained silent.

She left the headquarters of the Eighth Division in silence and returned home.

Looking at the thick stack of suicide notes and USB drives, she could guess what was inside. But she wasn't ready to touch that deliberately hidden five years that belonged to him.

Reason told her that everything seemed understandable: there was cause and effect, the plan was meticulous, and the results were brilliant.

Yet deep within, a cold, stagnant feeling lingered. It wasn't hatred, but rather a sense of bewilderment and dull pain, like being stranded on a strange beach after being swept away by a huge wave.

She was like a crucial character, yet she watched a play without her own script.

What was this feeling? She tentatively named it anger.

She locked the suicide note and USB drive deep inside a drawer.

When she figures out the source of her anger, or when the person who orchestrated all of this stands before her and explains it to her personally.

.......

The next morning.

Tang Ning was exhausted after several days and was fast asleep in bed.

The blanket was suddenly pulled back, and a voice boomed in my ear like thunder:

"Why didn't you tell me about something this serious? Were you hurt?"

"Oh my god, what's that below your collarbone? Are you injured?"

Tang Ning's sweet dream was disturbed, and anger surged to her head:

"Li Tianmu, do you have a death wish? Disturbing my sleep so early in the morning?"

Tang Ning pulled the blanket over herself and closed her eyes.

"What time is it? Still sleeping? Don't you have to go to work? I bought breakfast, get up and eat."

Tang Ning closed her eyes and ignored him.

Li Tianmu climbed straight onto the bed and lay down beside Tang Ning:

"You chased me away all this time just to do this big thing, didn't you?"

Tang Ning suddenly opened her eyes: "What do you know?"

"Oh my, what a commotion! A city-wide manhunt! The news's spread everywhere. The official media isn't reporting it, but rumors are flying everywhere. You guys, the company bosses, teamed up to catch this big bad guy."

Tang Ning was amused by the childish words of "big bad guy".

Do you know who the "big bad guy" is?

"Of course, Lin Xiyue, Ding Meiyu, and the others. I've suspected they've been up to something for a long time."

Tang Ning raised an eyebrow: "Oh? Why do you say that?"

"First of all, Ding Meiyu is definitely not a good person since she was arrested. Secondly, I always felt that Lao Qin and Lao Xie were just fooling Lin Xiyue; Lao Qin didn't cheat on her."

Tang Ning threw off the covers and sat up; she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep.

Tell me about it.

Li Tianmu then got up and sat cross-legged on the bed.

"Well, how should I put it? They're not as intimate as normal couples, but Lao Xie is always saying from the side: 'So sweet, he's so good to her.' Actually, sweet my foot."

Li Tianmu then frowned and thought for a moment:

"To say you're good to her? Well, I've bought her quite a few gifts. Lin Xiyue is rather vain, so buying her gifts must suit her taste perfectly; I often see her posting them on her social media."

"Later, after I got to know President Jiang, I knew there was definitely something wrong. Between President Jiang and Lin Xiyue, Lao Qin would choose President Jiang even with his eyes closed. So from then on, I didn't pay much attention to Lin Xiyue anymore. You see, I basically stopped going to their gatherings."

"Do you think Lao Qin faked his affair for President Jiang? Is Lao Qin an undercover agent?" Li Tianmu stared with wide eyes and leaned forward.

"Hey, you're pretty smart." Tang Ning patted Li Tianmu's head lightly.

"Of course I'm smart; I'm just a wise fool."

"Hmm, you're roughly like a fish." Tang Ning pouted, got up from the bed, and walked towards the bathroom.

He had only taken a few steps when he suddenly remembered what Xie Jinxing had said.

He turned around and held out his hand to Li Tianmu: "Let me see your phone."

"What are you doing? Checking up on me?" Li Tianmu teased, holding his phone to his chest.

"What kind of inspection is this? I want to see photos of Qin Heming and the others."

Li Tianmu opened his phone's photo album and handed it to Tang Ning.

Tang Ning flipped through the photos one by one, and sure enough, there was nothing intimate about them. If you didn't know, it was basically just a group of friends having a gathering.

Li Tianmu leaned in mysteriously and said, "I have something to tell you, but don't tell anyone else."

"Hmm? Speak." Tang Ning frowned and glanced at him.

Li Tianmu lowered his voice: "Lin Xiyue actually likes Jian Tingyun."

Tang Ning remained expressionless: "I know."

"Huh? How did you know?" Li Tianmu stared wide-eyed in surprise.

Tang Ning ignored him and continued flipping through the photos.

Undeterred by the lack of the expected response, Li Tianmu decided to throw out a big surprise.

"Jian Tingyun likes President Jiang." Then, he stared intently at Tang Ning's reaction.

"I know," Tang Ning said calmly.

Now it was Li Tianmu's turn to get restless: "How do you know everything?"

Tang Ning scoffed inwardly: During the ten-odd minutes he lay in that dilapidated warehouse, he overheard quite a bit of gossip.

"Never mind that. Send me this one." Tang Ning pointed to a photo of Qin Se wearing a birthday hat sitting in the middle, with Li Tianmu and Qin Heming on either side, all kissing Qin Se in the middle.

Li Tianmu took back his phone and said while operating it:

"We each took one picture like this, with Lao Qin sitting there as a regular companion, and everyone taking turns going up to take a picture."

Tang Ning then sent the photo to Jiang Yin.

He then said to Li Tianmu, "Compress the rest and send it to me; I might need it someday."

Li Tianmu followed the instructions, muttering to himself:

"Hurry up and eat breakfast, I need to go to the hospital after you finish."

"Brother Tingyun asked me to go see Lao Qin. The two love rivals are going to meet. I have to hurry and see what's going on."