No. 21 A Trivial Pride
After the kidnapping incident, to deal with any potential future threats, Ouyang Dati stationed a sniper in a building across from my apartment and, posing as an official, instructed my father to keep me indoors.
Only then did I realize that Dati and Luo Wei weren’t joking.
Their backgrounds were truly shrouded in mystery, far beyond the reach of my previous life’s knowledge.
Yi Yao’s fate in this world had been altered.
If I hadn’t intervened on Liang Zhenyi’s behalf, if I hadn’t injured Huang Qinghao, I wouldn’t have crossed paths with Huang Yingdie, the mayor’s daughter. I wouldn’t have met Huang Tianhai, and Ouyang Dati wouldn’t have taken me to meet Luo Wei.
And most importantly… Huang Yingdie’s fate had changed because of me.
In the other world, the kidnapping of the mayor’s daughter had been a major news story. Unlike the current outcome, where we had outsmarted the kidnappers and escaped unharmed, in that world, she had been killed.
It made sense. Those men were ruthless enough to fire their guns. Without my intervention, Xiaodie’s death would have been inevitable.
But this also meant that my ability to foresee the future, my advantage as a transmigrator, was slowly fading.
“This is so frustrating…”
I sighed, staring at the junior high textbooks I had already reviewed.
The computer in the living room hummed softly.
Since the kidnappers had taken my phone, I could only rely on QQ to stay informed about the outside world.
The news of “Handsome Girl Outwits Kidnappers, Rescues Mayor’s Daughter” had spread throughout Upper Capital City, reaching even my school and classmates. Almost everyone I knew had sent me messages of concern and support.
But Lan Zhuoyue’s avatar remained grayed out.
I was all too familiar with the symptom of vomiting blood. My mother had been diagnosed with leukemia after experiencing the same thing. So, Tan Lijiang’s words had been weighing heavily on my mind. Lan Zhuoyue was one of Yi Yao’s few close friends, and now, he was mine too.
With nothing else to do, I opened the Heavenly Fire Forum.
As usual, I was greeted by 99+ notifications.
But this time, there was a “1” next to the system notifications.
I clicked on it and found a message from the administrator: “Dear Mr. bee, due to unforeseen circumstances, we would like to contact you. We hope you can spare some time to reply to us. – Long Teng.”
They were in trouble again? I thought Heavenly Fire was supposed to be smooth sailing this month.
I effortlessly bypassed their firewall and connected to their computer. “What’s the matter?” I asked directly.
It took a while for them to reply. “So, you really are the ‘bee’ from the forum.”
“I told you, I don’t deny it.”
“Your reputation on the forum has surpassed most of the veterans. You’re almost as famous as BRS, the current top hacker. Your insights on programming and coding have revolutionized our understanding. We’ve learned a lot from you.”
“Reputation means nothing to me.”
“Then, Mr. bee, as the CEO of Heavenly Fire, I have a personal matter I’d like to discuss with you. Would that be possible?”
“Try to keep it under thirty minutes.”
“Thank you. What I wanted to ask is, was your request for my son to leave Upper Capital City your own idea?”
“I told you, it was a distant relative who asked me to do it.”
“Would you be willing to tell us the name of this relative?”
His next words stunned me.
“What’s wrong?”
“To be honest, we trust you because you helped us during our crisis. My son, Long Fei, had a close female friend in Upper Capital City. The day after he left, she was attacked. You must have heard about it.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you suggesting I colluded with the kidnappers?”
Seriously? I tricked Long Fei into leaving, then orchestrated my own kidnapping?
But I understood their suspicion. I had asked Long Teng to transfer his son out of the city, and the next day, his “girlfriend” was kidnapped. It was natural for them to connect the dots.
“We have no choice but to be suspicious.”
“And I have no obligation to prove my innocence.”
“For your own safety, we advise you to cooperate. This case has political implications. If the higher-ups get involved, we can’t guarantee your secret will be safe.”
From persuasion to threats?
“I can’t prove anything, but I assure you, I have no reason to do such a thing.”
“Please, Mr. bee, don’t make this difficult for us.”
“Fine.”
I sighed and typed my QQ number into the chat window. “This is my personal account. If you don’t trust me, we can add each other as friends.”
Among hackers, exchanging QQ numbers was akin to revealing your real identity. Of course, this only applied to hackers in this era. Ten years from now, I would have countless ways to hide my information.
But this was my only option. Until I was ready to reveal everything, I had to build trust through trust.
I had already given them half of my identity. If anything happened, they could easily track me down. Wasn’t that enough to prove my sincerity?
Long Teng was in the Upper Capital City, and Long Fei was in the Heavenly Capital City. I wasn’t worried about them figuring out my QQ number.
Thirty seconds later, Long Teng added me as a friend.
“The legendary ‘bee,’ the all-knowing computer expert, is a sixteen-year-old middle school girl?”
That was his first message.
“You’re free to believe whatever you want about my online persona.”
“Haha, you’re quite humorous, Mr. bee.”
“Have you reached a decision?”
His avatar remained silent for thirty seconds.
“We’re businessmen.”
“…Go on.”
So, it came down to this.
All the persuasion, all the threats, were just a prelude to their real request.
“We’re businessmen.” The implication was clear. Businessmen valued profit. They were offering to keep my secret in exchange for a favor.
“We’re having trouble with our website’s JQuery effects. They’re not compatible with IE10.”
“That’s a front-end development issue.”
“We believe the all-powerful ‘bee’ can solve it.”
For the first time, I felt the urge to strangle someone.
“Send me the code.”
…
Ten minutes later, I sent them the modified code.
“Thank you for your help. We’ve discussed it internally and decided to trust you. We hope to continue our mutually beneficial partnership.”
“The pleasure is all mine.”
Talking to businessmen was exhausting.
As I closed the chat window, another message popped up.
BigIronPillar: “Yo, bro, it’s rare to see you online on a Wednesday. What’s up? Did your girlfriend dump you?”
I had met BigIronPillar while playing League of Legends. Since my in-game name was androgynous, and I didn’t bother with acting cute, he had always assumed I was a boy.
“Get lost. I don’t have a girlfriend.”
I typed, then added, remembering something, “Are you free to play today?”
In my previous life, I had only started playing League of Legends in my freshman year of university, in 2019. Although I wasn’t interested in games during high school, by then, it had become a social necessity in university. I had reluctantly joined the bandwagon and ended up playing for four years.
From a clueless noob, I had climbed the ranks, eventually reaching the highest tier. I had shed my “good student” image and become obsessed with the game, until I finally realized the truth.
Games were just games.
When you woke up from the dream, reality awaited.
But things were different now. 2015 and 2016 were the golden years of live streaming, and League of Legends was the most popular game on streaming platforms. I wouldn’t mind exploring this avenue. It could help alleviate my family’s financial situation.
“Wow, this is the first time you’ve invited me to play.”
“Cut the crap. Are you in or out?”
“I’m in, I’m in. Geez, you’re so impatient.”
We logged into the game, and I sent him a ranked game invitation.
He hesitated for a moment before accepting. “Are you sure about this? Ranked games are serious business.”
Being a girl, Yi Yao usually played against bots at home. She only played normal matches when BigIronPillar dragged her along. This would be her first ranked game.
He was only in Bronze, the lowest tier, stuck in the infamous “Elo hell.”
I clicked “Start” and replied, “Not really.”
As if. I might be three years behind, but I still had the basics down.
He sounded panicked. “If I lose again, I’ll drop to Bronze IV. Maybe we should use voice chat? For better coordination.”
I agreed.
“Hello, hello, bro, can you hear me?”
A gruff voice with a thick northern accent came through my headphones.
“Yes.”
“L-little sister? Let your brother talk.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t have a brother. I’m Yi Yao.”
“What?! You’re Yi Yao?!”
He clearly didn’t believe me. “But you’re a guy, right?”
“Did you check my QQ profile? Does it say I’m a guy?”
“I… but isn’t that your sister’s QQ?”
He reminded me that “my sister” often posted stories about her brother on her QQ space. And those stories were the ones I had told her in my dreams. He had obviously mistaken me for her brother.
“I told you, I’m an only child. No siblings. Hurry up and choose your position.”
“But you don’t sound like a girl.”
“What do you think girls sound like? All cutesy and whiny? Times have changed, old man.”
Well… in this era, boys talked like this
∑(っ °Д °;)っ How could you do this? QAQ *sobs*
And girls talked like this
“What the fuck, are you stupid?”
“You little shit, how dare you talk to me like that?”
So, it was understandable that he had gotten the wrong idea.
Perhaps because I was a girl, he was even more worried. He kept urging me to choose a support champion, so even if we lost, it wouldn’t be my fault.
I glanced at the few champions available on Yi Yao’s account and chose a mid laner. Then, I typed in the chat:
“Mid lane smurf. No refunds. No guaranteed win.”
