Troublesome – Chapter 77

Kiss

It’s okay, you take your time to speak.

Lu Zhenqiu opened the door. Jin Shuilan still had a chill on her from the cold air. She was wearing a long down jacket, with a light blue base layer inside, and form-fitting jeans. Her legs were long, slender, and firm. She walked in and asked Lu Zhenqiu: “Is the computer fixed?”

“Not yet.” Lu Zhenqiu moved her body aside, standing to one side with Maomao. She asked: “You even know how to fix computers?”

Jin Shuilan glanced at the time on her phone and said: “I don’t. I know how to take you to get it fixed.”

Hearing this, Lu Zhenqiu was stunned for two seconds, then she laughed. While laughing, she shot a playful glare at Jin Shuilan, the light in her eyes glistening like water. She said: “I was just preparing to go out and get it fixed too.”

“Then let’s go.” Jin Shuilan walked to her bedroom door and said: “Is the computer dismantled?”

Lu Zhenqiu shook her head.

Jin Shuilan walked into the room to help her dismantle the tower. Then, the two of them carried the tower downstairs. Maomao still wanted to follow. Lu Zhenqiu told Maomao to go back. Maomao let out a whimper and obediently returned home. Jin Shuilan placed the tower in the back seat and handed the keys to Lu Zhenqiu. Lu Zhenqiu was puzzled: “En?”

Jin Shuilan said: “A little tired, you drive.”

Her expression was natural and casual. Lu Zhenqiu thought for two seconds and took the keys. On the way, she asked about the script she was recently revising. Jin Shuilan pressed her temples and said: “It can probably be finished in about another week.”

Then it would be starting work after the New Year.

Lu Zhenqiu nodded: “Then are you starting a new story before the year ends?”

Jin Shuilan said: “I was originally preparing to start a new story in January, but now I’m not sure. What do you think?”

Lu Zhenqiu thought for a while and said: “I think either is fine.”

Jin Shuilan lowered her head and asked nonchalantly: “Then will you read it?”

Lu Zhenqiu nodded: “I will.”

She said seriously: “I’ve been reading your novels during this period.”

Jin Shuilan asked her: “Are they good?”

How could she ask that to her face? Lu Zhenqiu, who was clearly the one reading, was asked until she felt embarrassed. Sure enough, as long as I’m not embarrassed, the one who’s embarrassed is the other person. She bit her lip: “They’re good.”

Jin Shuilan turned her head to look at her. The streetlights were bright, shining into the car. Lu Zhenqiu’s side profile was clear, her eyes bright. She pressed her hand to the corner of her lips, smiling without a sound.

Soon they arrived at the repair center. There were still ten minutes until closing. The owner had chatted with Lu Zhenqiu on the software and knew the two were coming, so he hadn’t closed the shop. Jin Shuilan carried the tower inside. After the owner connected the cables, he said: “Got a virus, right? There are especially many of these immoral people at the end of the year. Several people came to get their computers fixed today. Do you want me to run an antivirus scan or reinstall the system?”

Just as Lu Zhenqiu opened her mouth, Jin Shuilan said: “Reinstall the system. Can you turn on the computer first and let us save our files?”

“I can.” The owner nodded, then started the program. With nimble hands and feet, he turned on the computer, let Lu Zhenqiu save her files, and only then reinstalled the system. Lu Zhenqiu said: “Actually, an antivirus scan would have been fine.”

“It’s better to reinstall the system…” Just as Jin Shuilan finished speaking, Lu Zhenqiu received a private message from Xiao Yu, asking if she had fixed it yet. Lu Zhenqiu replied that she hadn’t. Jin Shuilan, at her side, asked what kind of virus this was. The owner said: “This virus used to be quite common, not so much anymore. Generally, if you get this virus, the system will automatically identify online software and then publish some illegal content.”

Hearing this, Lu Zhenqiu frowned. She immediately logged into her own Q¹. When she clicked on it, it directly crashed back to the login page. Lu Zhenqiu’s brows furrowed, and a bad premonition rose in her heart. Jin Shuilan saw her expression and asked: “What’s wrong?”

Lu Zhenqiu quickly logged into Q. The login page displayed——This account has been permanently muted due to violating speech.

She said to Jin Shuilan: “My account was hacked.”

Jin Shuilan lowered her head to look at her phone, her expression serious. She asked Lu Zhenqiu: “Do you have a backup alternate account?”

“I have one alternate account, but I don’t use it often.” Lu Zhenqiu said. She switched to that alternate account, registered three years ago, and had barely used it. The main contacts were all on that main account, but that was the one she couldn’t get on. She couldn’t even send out a single notification message. Lu Zhenqiu felt a bit depressed. Jin Shuilan said: “First notify the production teams you’re collaborating with, then send notifications to everyone else.”

Lu Zhenqiu’s originally somewhat agitated mood was strangely stabilized by this sentence. She listened to Jin Shuilan’s words and first went to send private messages on Weibo to the few production teams she was in contact with, then contacted Xiao Yu, Hua Luo, and the others.

Hua Luo asked her strangely: 【How did you get hacked just like that?】

Xiao Yu: 【Yeah, that’s toxic. Who sent you the link? What’s their account name?】

Lu Zhenqiu used her phone to log into the live streaming platform and saw the registered ID number. It was newly registered that night, had only voted for her, and the amount was just right. Hua Luo: 【This is obviously someone trying to cause trouble. Qiuqiu, do you have any other important files on your computer?】

Apart from some recordings, Lu Zhenqiu didn’t have much else on her computer. Usually, besides live streaming, she used her phone to watch TV and rarely used the computer. As for recordings, because most of them were now done in a studio, she would go to the studio to discuss and record songs, so there really weren’t any important files on her computer.

Xiao Yu: 【Regardless of whether there are or not, just hacking someone’s Q is disgusting enough!】

Lu Zhenqiu was also very angry. That main account was one she had used ever since she got a Q account. There were many friends in it. Although they usually didn’t contact each other anymore, the feelings with those people were real. Now that the account was gone, it was equivalent to cutting off the last bit of connection. How could Lu Zhenqiu not be angry?

She sat on the chair, her head lowered, copying the few friend Q numbers that Xiao Yu had sent over, adding them, and then posted on Weibo to reassure her fans not to worry, that it was just a virus, and she could live stream as usual tomorrow. After Jin Shuilan finished her phone call, she looked at the fuming Lu Zhenqiu and couldn’t help but laugh: “What’s wrong?”

She sat beside Lu Zhenqiu, turned her head to the side, her eyes gentle.

Lu Zhenqiu’s fingers picked at the edge of her phone. She said: “It’s because I wasn’t careful…”

“Qiuqiu.” Jin Shuilan called out: “This kind of thing is impossible to defend against. Even the computer’s security protection center didn’t detect it. Could you be more amazing than a computer?”

That’s also true.

Jin Shuilan really knew how to comfort people.

Lu Zhenqiu’s mood subtly improved a little. Jin Shuilan continued: “Be careful next time. Don’t click on links from strangers.”

“En.” Lu Zhenqiu nodded. Jin Shuilan asked her: “Have you contacted everyone?”

“I’ve sent messages to all of them.” Lu Zhenqiu said: “I’ve also contacted some through WeChat.”

She didn’t have contact with many people. In the past, she was mostly in contact with Hua Luo and Xiao Yu. It was only after returning to the circle that she got to know new people, so adding them all up was quick. Jin Shuilan nodded: “Don’t worry about it after the system is reinstalled in a bit.”

Lu Zhenqiu gave a sound of assent.

After being busy for almost an hour, the owner finally finished reinstalling the computer. It was almost eleven o’clock. Lu Zhenqiu was very embarrassed. She and Jin Shuilan went downstairs to buy the owner a cup of milk tea and brought some oden. Back at the shop, the owner smiled happily: “Thank you, thank you.”

“I installed an upgraded antivirus software for you. It’s quite good. It can defend against this kind of virus today.” The owner said while drinking his milk tea. Jin Shuilan asked him: “Then the account that was hacked, can it be recovered?”

As she spoke, she showed the owner the display page of Lu Zhenqiu’s account. The owner shook his head: “I’m afraid this won’t work. Last time a girl got this virus, she even called the police, but there was no financial loss, so it wasn’t much use.”

Lu Zhenqiu estimated that there wasn’t much hope, so she wasn’t too dejected when she heard this. With Jin Shuilan accompanying her all evening to handle it, it was as if she suddenly had a pillar of support. Her terrible mood improved a lot, and she even comforted Jin Shuilan: “It’s okay, I’ll just use the new account.”

Jin Shuilan asked her: “Not angry anymore?”

Lu Zhenqiu glanced at her and shook her head: “Not angry anymore.”

Jin Shuilan finished the last bit of her milk tea, feeling sweet inside. She and Lu Zhenqiu went home from the repair center at past eleven o’clock. Lu Zhenqiu was still the one driving. Halfway there, Jin Shuilan was about to fall asleep. Lu Zhenqiu saw her dozing off and slowed down the car. There were no words on the way. When they arrived downstairs, Jin Shuilan was still propping her hand against the edge of the window, looking like she was lightly asleep. Lu Zhenqiu didn’t wake her, but just pulled her wrist, laying her flat on the seat, playing on her phone while accompanying Jin Shuilan.

Hua Luo had started a new small group chat again. It wasn’t just the three of them; she had actually also pulled in Bai Mao, Ji Zibo, and even Jin Shuilan. Just as she was pulled in, Lu Zhenqiu’s phone dinged. She hurriedly muted it, turned her head, and Jin Shuilan had already opened her eyes.

“We’re here.” Jin Shuilan sat up straight. “Why didn’t you call me?”

Lu Zhenqiu said: “I saw you looked very tired. Have you been very busy these past two days?”

Jin Shuilan said: “I revised the script for a whole afternoon today. My brain is quite tired.”

She stretched out her hand and accidentally touched Lu Zhenqiu’s hair. She paused, then turned her head to look. Lu Zhenqiu also seemed to have noticed her hand brushing past her cheek and sat straight without moving.

Soon, she spoke: “Then I’m getting out.”

Jin Shuilan also got out of the car. Seeing Lu Zhenqiu carrying the tower and walking inside, she followed, helping to press the elevator button. The floor numbers went down one by one. Neither of them spoke.

When the elevator arrived, Lu Zhenqiu got out first. Jin Shuilan took the tower from her hands and only went in after watching her open the door. Jin Shuilan went directly to her room, helped her set up the computer, and only after all the wires were connected did she say: “Turn it on and see.”

Lu Zhenqiu sat in front of the computer. After a system reinstall, everything was definitely gone. The speed was very fast. Lu Zhenqiu downloaded a few commonly used software. Maomao squeezed over, getting close to the computer. Lu Zhenqiu carried him to the side of the bed. Jin Shuilan said: “Is it okay now?”

“En, it’s okay.” Lu Zhenqiu said: “Tonight, it’s too late. Why don’t you just sleep here?”

Jin Shuilan looked at her for a few moments, then nodded: “Okay.”

She returned to her own room. Everything was the same as before, yet completely different. Jin Shuilan lay on the bed, the crystal lamp shining down. Her heart was incomparably calm. Soon, the bathroom door opened and then closed. Jin Shuilan took her pajamas and went out, sitting on the sofa to play with Maomao. The pitter-patter sound of water came from the bathroom. She glanced over from time to time. The moment Lu Zhenqiu came out, she saw Jin Shuilan and Maomao playing on the sofa. Maomao had a ball in his mouth and was running particularly fast, rushing to Jin Shuilan’s side. Jin Shuilan threw it, and Maomao bit it and brought it back again. Hearing the movement behind her, Jin Shuilan turned her head: “Finished washing?”

“En.” Lu Zhenqiu said: “You can go in and wash.”

She called out: “Maomao.”

Maomao immediately quieted down, obediently sitting by her side. When Jin Shuilan stood up, she saw the packed dog food next to the sofa and asked: “Are you sending Maomao to the pet shop?”

Lu Zhenqiu replied to her: “I’ve arranged with the shop owner to send it over next Monday.”

Maomao was still leaning against her. After Lu Zhenqiu finished speaking, she thought of Jin Shuilan and Maomao’s roughhousing just now. She looked at Jin Shuilan and said: “Next Monday, are you still busy?”

Jin Shuilan said: “It’ll be mostly over.”

Lu Zhenqiu nodded: “Then can I ask you to take care of Maomao?”

“Me?” Jin Shuilan asked deliberately: “Why?”

Lu Zhenqiu hadn’t expected her to ask this question. She thought Jin Shuilan had understood what she meant. Lu Zhenqiu’s heart tensed, her emotions nervous, and she even spoke slower: “Maomao quite likes you, and I see you quite like Maomao too. If you’re not busy, I…”

Hearing her tense voice, Jin Shuilan’s heart suddenly ached. Her body leaned out from the sofa a little, her hands propped on the sofa’s armrests. She leaned towards Lu Zhenqiu, closed her eyes, and kissed her on the cheek. Lu Zhenqiu, having just finished her shower, was fragrant all over. Her wet hair was wrapped in a dry towel, her cheeks fair and clean. After being kissed by Jin Shuilan, they were quickly dyed with a red blush, and even the roots of her ears turned thoroughly red.

The living room was silent. Jin Shuilan’s thin lips touched her cheek and separated in an instant. Then, Jin Shuilan stood up straight, her voice still gentle: “It’s okay, you take your time to speak.”

Speak, speak, speak what?

Lu Zhenqiu stood on the spot. Her heartbeat stopped for a beat and then began to beat crazily. Her blood boiled and tumbled. She wanted to open her mouth to speak, but could only tense her body and blink her eyes.

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The author has something to say:

Thirty red envelopes me me da.

Such a rare second update.

Teacher Jin: So fragrant, so sweet, so soft.

Lu Zhenqiu: ……

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LP: Getting hacked sucks!

Got hacked before, and I only knew when I went to log in to my Genshin account and the password was changed. I spent money in that account 🙁

Lost some more accounts, but they’re all not that important.

Good thing I managed to change all of my emails’ passwords before they got it all. Though, I think the hacker sold my emails as I receive spam and confirmation emails.

Now, I have second authentication with everything!

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